Summary Judgment

Summary judgment is a determination made by a court without a full trial. By resolving the matter before trial, summary judgment saves valuable trial time and assists in securing speedy and inexpensive resolution of disputes. Such a judgment may be issued as to the merits of an entire case, or of specific issues in that case. Motions for Summary Judgment are governed by [http://floridacivpro.com/Rule1510.php Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.510], which provides that:
 * The judgment sought shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings and summary judgment evidence on file show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.

Moving for Summary Judgment
The party moving for summary judgment must file a motion stating with particularity the grounds upon which it is based and the substantial matters of law to be argued. The motion may be supported by affidavits, answers to interrogatories, admissions, depositions, or other materials as would be admissible in evidence. See Glarum v. Lasalle Bank Nat'l Assoc., Case No. 4D10-1372 (Fla. 4th DCA Sept. 7, 2011)(affidavit containing hearsay cannot be used to obtain summary judgment). The moving party shall serve the motion at least 20 days before the time fixed for the hearing, and shall also serve at that time a copy of any summary judgment evidence on which the movant relies that has not already been filed with the court.

"A movant is entitled to summary judgment 'if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions, affidavits, and other materials as would be admissible in evidence on file show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.' " ''Estate of Githens ex rel. Seaman v. Bon Secours-Maria Manor Nursing Care Ctr., Inc.'', 928 So. 2d 1272, 1274 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006) quoting [http://www.floridacivpro.com/rules/2010/09/1510_summary_judgment_1/ Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.510(c)]. The party seeking summary judgment must refute all material factual allegations raised in the pleadings of the non-moving party or establish that they are legally insufficient. See ''Morroni v. Household Fin. Corp., III, 903 So.2d 311 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002) and Manassas Inv., Inc. v. O'Hanrahan'', 817 So.2d 1080 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002) (holding that in order for the movant to prevail on a summary judgment motion, movant must either factually refute the affirmative defenses or establish that they are legally insufficient). The moving party bears the burden of showing conclusively the absence of any genuine issue of material fact. Moore v. Morris, 475 So. 2d 666, 668 (Fla. 1985).


 * “[a] party moving for summary judgment must show conclusively the absence of any genuine issue of material fact and the court must draw every possible inference in favor of the party against whom a summary judgment is sought.”

Moore, 475 So.2d at 668, see also Estate of Githens, 928 So. 2d at 1274 (the trial court must draw every possible inference in favor of the nonmoving party). Accordingly, "summary judgment should not be granted unless the facts are so crystallized that nothing remains but questions of law," Moore, 475 So. 2d at 668.

Defeating Summary Judgment
In order to defeat a motion for summary judgment, the non-moving party must present affidavits, answers to interrogatories, admissions, depositions, or other materials as would be admissible in evidence that demonstrate raise a genuine issue of material fact. See Francel v. Gries Investment Fund, LLC, Case No. 2D09-4591, 36 Fla. L. Wkly. D256 (Fla. 2d DCA Feb. 2, 2011). The non-moving party shall identify, by notice mailed to the movant’s attorney at least 5 days prior to the day of the hearing, or delivered no later than 5:00 p.m. 2 business days prior to the day of the hearing, any summary judgment evidence on which the adverse party relies an provide the moving party with a copy of the same.

In ''Morroni v. Household Fin. Corp., III'', 903 So.2d 311 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002), a foreclosure case, the court held that:


 * [T]he trial court erred in granting summary judgment. Household's complaint filed in June 2001 alleged that the Morronis failed to make payments on their mortgage from March 2001 onward. The twenty-eight affirmative defenses alleged, among other things, that the Morronis made advance payments towards the mortgage for the months of March, April, May, June, July, and August of 2001. Household never factually refuted the affirmative defenses or established that they were legally insufficient. Therefore, Household did not establish its entitlement to summary judgment. See Jones v. City of Winter Haven, 870 So.2d 52 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003) (holding that the party seeking summary judgment must not only establish that no genuine issues of material fact exist as to the party's claims but must also either factually refute the affirmative defenses or establish that they are legally insufficient).