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20. Based only on evidence in the record, which party is likely to prevail at this point in the lawsuit?
In response, the scientist filed: (i) an affidavit, stating that the engineer never paid the debt on the contract, and that the checks from the engineer are payment for a used automobile that the scientist sold to the engineer and not for any services rendered; and (ii) copies of the engineer's checks with the words «for used car» in the memo line. The trial is set to begin next week.
A scientist properly filed a diversity action against an engineer in federal court in State A, alleging that the engineer failed to pay a debt due on a valid contract for services rendered. The engineer did not dispute that there was a contract between herself and the scientist. The engineer argued that she paid the debt and has records of the checks made payable to the scientist to prove it, although has not produced any evidence in support of this assertion.
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Certain defenses may be raised either in the answer or by motion. For example, if the defendant believes that the plaintiff's complaint does not state a legally sufficient claim, the defendant may make a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (FRCP) 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. For this motion to be successful, it must demonstrate that even if every fact asserted in the complaint is taken as true, no recovery is plausible under any legal theory.
Moving along in the lifecycle of a federal case, either party may make a number of motions to adjudicate the dispute in their favor without a trial. For example, if one party can show there is no genuine dispute of as to any material fact in the lawsuit, and that he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, he can be awarded judgment through an FRCP 56 motion for summary judgment. When making a FRCP 56 motion for summary judgment, the party seeking summary judgment has the burden of producing information that clearly establishes no factual dispute for a jury to resolve.
The movant (the person seeking summary judgment) may attempt to prove the lack of a genuine issue of fact by submitting affidavits in support of their motion. The affidavits must:
(i) only contain matters as to which the affiant has personal knowledge;
(ii) state only matters which would be admissible at trial; AND
(iii) show the affiant is competent to testify at trial.
The movant may also submit the fruits of discovery no matter which side they were obtained from.
Later in the case, if the case reaches a jury, either party may move for a judgment as a matter of law, which has the effect of taking the case away from the jury and determining the outcome as a matter of law. FRCP 50(a)(1) states that if a party has been fully heard on an issue during a jury trial and the court finds that a reasonable jury would not have a legally sufficient evidentiary basis to find for the party on that issue, the court may resolve the issue against the party and grant a motion for judgment as a matter of law against the party, on a claim or defense that under the controlling law can be maintained or defeated only with a favorable finding on that issue.
D is correct. The call asks, based on the evidence in the record, which party is most likely to prevail in the choices given. Going off the evidence introduced into the record by each party, the scientist is most likely to prevail on a FRCP 56 summary judgment motion. The scientist could claim that the engineer has failed to show, based on evidence, that there is a genuine dispute over a material fact. The engineer's unsupported assertion that she paid the debt will not prevail over what the scientist has produced, including an affidavit and copies of checks to establish that the engineer's payment went to a car, not services rendered under the valid contract. No evidence disputes these assertions in the record, which is why the scientist would likely prevail.
A is incorrect. A court shall grant a motion for summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact. Here, there is a genuine dispute of material fact by virtue of the scientist's affidavit. Therefore, the engineer would likely not prevail on a motion for summary judgment.
B is incorrect. The engineer's assertion is unsupported by evidence in the record. Nothing in the fact pattern indicates that the scientist has filed a claim where relief could not be granted.
C is incorrect. A judgment as a matter of law is a motion made by a party during trial claiming the opposing party has insufficient evidence to reasonably support its case. A party may only file this motion during trial. Here, the trial has not begun. Therefore, this is not yet an option.