Summary judgment
The last exit before trial prep. Also the one most likely to half-work.
Where you are
Discovery is closing. The evidence exists. This is the court's last chance to end the case without a trial.
You can still end this here.
How settlement works →Cost so far
You are now at roughly 43× the cost of answering that first letter.
What this is
A motion for summary judgment argues that the evidence gathered in discovery leaves nothing for a jury to decide — that there's no genuine dispute about any material fact, so the judge should rule as a matter of law.
The distinction that matters: at the motion-to-dismiss stage you argued their story fails. Here you argue their evidence fails. You point at the actual record — the deposition transcripts, the documents, the admissions — and say there is nothing here a reasonable jury could find for them on.
Either side can file. Both often do.
What it costs you
The map sizes this like an early motion. In practice it's usually more than that, because the motion is built on the entire discovery record — every relevant transcript and exhibit gets cited, and someone has to do that.
Typical time: briefing and a ruling commonly take several months. Meanwhile the trial date does not move, which means you are frequently preparing for trial and briefing the motion at the same time — paying for two large boxes at once.
The outcome founders don't plan for
Look at the map. The "Win?" diamond after summary judgment has three real answers, not two: yes in full, no, and partly.
Partly is the common one, and it is the one nobody budgets for. The judge throws out three claims and keeps two. You "won" — and you are still going to trial, having paid for a full motion, on a narrower case.
That is not a bad outcome. A narrower case is a cheaper trial and a better settlement position. But a founder who was told "we're filing for summary judgment" and heard "this will be over by spring" experiences it as a loss, and makes worse decisions afterward. Ask your lawyer for the odds on all three outcomes, not two.
What you decide here
If this doesn't end it, do I want a trial?
Answer that now, before the ruling, while you can still think. Because a denied motion is followed immediately by trial prep — the second-largest box on the map — and by an opposing counsel who just got more confident and less flexible.
The honest version of the question: if the motion fails, is there any number at which I settle? Know it now. Deciding under trial-date pressure is how founders end up paying more than they would have three months earlier.
What you actually do this week
Get real odds, in three parts. Full win, partial, denial. A lawyer who won't put numbers on it is telling you something.
Price both branches. What does the rest of this cost if the motion works, and what does it cost if it doesn't. Both numbers, before you commit.
Set your settlement number before the ruling. Written down, agreed with whoever needs to agree.
Check the insurance position again. Carriers reassess at this stage. What they'll fund shapes what you can do.
Look at your calendar honestly. Trial prep will take you and your key people out of the business for weeks. If you're raising or shipping something that matters, that collision is a real cost and it belongs in the math.
The mistake at this stage
Treating summary judgment as the plan.
Most of these motions do not fully dispose of a case. Building your strategy, your budget, and your emotional posture around a full win means that the likely outcome — partial, or denied — arrives as a crisis instead of a branch you'd already priced.
The disciplined version: file it if it's worth filing, and have the trial-or-settle decision already made for the day it comes back.
You can still end this here
A pending motion is leverage, and both sides know it. The window between filing and ruling is one of the most productive settlement periods in a case — everybody is looking at the same risk and nobody has the answer yet.
Many courts also require mediation before trial. That requirement lands right about here, and it is not a formality. A lot of cases end in that room. → How settlement works
Where Story fits
A summary judgment motion is only as good as the record behind it — signed agreements with clear terms, board consents actually executed, IP assignments in place and findable. That record is built during ordinary operations, years before anyone drafts a motion.
The general counsel work at this stage is the decision around the motion rather than the motion itself: honest odds on all three outcomes, both branches priced, and your settlement number set before the ruling lands, with your board and your carrier already aligned on it. Founders who wait to have that conversation until after a denial end up having it under trial-date pressure, which is the worst possible time to have it.
This is general educational information from the attorneys who build Story. It is not legal advice, it does not create an attorney-client relationship, and it is simplified — litigation procedure varies significantly by jurisdiction and by case. Talk to a licensed attorney about your actual situation.
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