What is summary judgment?

• A. A decision to hold a trial for all issues.
• B. An order staying proceedings.
• C. A court decision by a judge that the case has no real issue to be tried.
• D. A court decision resolving all or part of a claim without a full trial when there is no real issue to be tried.

Answer: (D)

Summary judgment is a court decision made without a full trial when there is no real issue to be tried. If the evidence and pleadings show that the claimant has no real prospect of success, or the defendant has no real prospect of defending, the court can resolve the claim or a part of it based on those materials alone. This saves time and costs by avoiding a trial when the outcome is clear from the existing evidence and legal arguments.

The described choice matches this idea precisely: it involves resolving all or part of a claim without a full trial because there’s no real issue to be tried. The other options describe different situations: holding a trial for all issues is the opposite of summary judgment; a stay is about delaying proceedings rather than deciding the merits; and while one option mentions no real issue to be tried, it omits that the court’s decision disposes of the claim or a part of it without a full trial.