Standing Order Regarding Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 Motions
Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney
United States District Court
District of Colorado
Courtroom A702
Alfred A. Arraj Courthouse
Chambers A738
901 19th Street Denver
Denver, CO 80294
or
Telephone: (303) 335-2610
Email:
[email protected]
December 20245 (this Standing Order shall take effect for all actions with a dispositive
motions deadline on or after February 1, 2025)
Parties litigating before this Court shall comply with the following prerequisites for
filing summary judgment motions.
I. PURPOSE
Motions for summary judgment are only appropriate when there is “no genuine
dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”
Fed. R. Civ. P. 56. All too often, litigants in federal court ignore this threshold requirement
and file motions for summary judgment as a matter of course. Summary judgment motions
can be a valuable tool for narrowing or resolving issues in a case, but where there are
obvious disputes as to material facts, summary judgment motions merely burden courts and
impose unnecessary costs on the parties. Determining whether there are disputes as to
material facts is an important step in the litigation process, and it requires the parties to
meaningfully meet and confer. A meaningful conferral should enable the parties to identify
(a) what facts are material, and (b) whether those facts are in dispute.
II. APPLICABILITY
This Standing Order Regarding Rule 56 Motions shall apply to all civil actions except
(1) Social Security actions and (2) actions with pro se parties. In actions where one or more
party is unrepresented, the parties should obtain a dispositive motions deadline during the
scheduling conference.
III. NOTICE TO CHAMBERS
A. No later than 10 days after the close of discovery, a party seeking to file a
motion for summary judgment must email Chambers, copying opposing counsel, to inform
the Court of their intent to file such motion.
B. Upon receipt of such notice, the Court will schedule a hearing with the parties
to discuss the material facts and to determine whether there are disputes of any material
facts.
IV. HEARING REQUIREMENTS
A. No later than three business days prior to the hearing, the Parties shall
jointly file a chart of undisputed material facts. The parties shall allow sufficient time to
exchange and substantively discuss the chart prior to filing. The Parties shall format their
chart in accordance with Appendix A. The moving party or parties shall also submit to the
Court a statement of the claims or defenses on which they intend to move for summary
judgment.
B. This chart is a tool for establishing whether there are disputes as to material
facts. The chart is not intended to set forth legal arguments. The movant shall complete a
separate chart for each claim it seeks summary judgment.
C. Each fact must be supported by specific citations to supporting evidence. The
citation must be specific—e.g., provide a page and line number in a deposition transcript
or multi-page document. But Parties need not file exhibits with the chart.
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D. If the nonmovant disputes a particular fact, they shall identify the evidence
that contradicts the purported fact and provide specific citations to supporting evidence.
E. In the fourth column of the chart, the parties shall state whether they agree
that the fact in question is material.
E.F. To the extent a party intends to move for summary judgment on more than
one claim and includes in their chart a fact that is unique to a particular claim or claim(s),
the party may, but is not required to, add an additional column to the chart identifying the
specific claim(s) to which the stated fact pertains.
V. MISCELLANEOUS
A. At the hearing, the Court will consider the issues raised and will set a briefing
schedule. The Court will not preclude a party from filing a motion for summary judgment,
but the Court will make suggestions regarding issues based on the facts identified during
the hearing. Should a party proceed with filing a motion for summary judgment after the
hearing, the parties shall comply with the Civ. Practice Standard 7.1D of the Uniform
Civil Practice Standards governing motions for summary judgment.
B. Motions for summary judgment filed without adhering to the procedures in
this standing order or Civ. Practice Standard 7.1D will be stricken for noncompliance.
C. No party shall file an early motion for summary judgment without first
obtaining leave of the Judge or Magistrate Judge.
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APPENDIX A
REQUIRED FORMAT FOR CHART OF UNDISPUTED FACTS
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney
CASE NO. ______________________________ DATE OF HEARING__________________________
CASE CAPTION _______________________________________________________________
PARTY OR PARTIES SEEKING SUMMARY JUDGMENT_____________________________
Statement of Undisputed Facts
[Party’s] Motion for Summary Judgment on [Party’s] Claim # ____
Number Movant’s purported undisputed material fact Non-movant’s response Do the parties
(with citations) (with citations) agree that the
purported fact
is material?
1.
2.
3.
APPNDIX B
EXAMPLE CHART OF UNDISPUTED FACTS
[Party’s] Motion for Summary Judgment on [Party's] Claim #
Movant’s purported undisputed material fact (with Non-movant’s response (with Do the parties
citations) citations) agree that the
purported fact is
material?
The Plaintiffs employment began on June 15, 2018. Agree.
Undisputed.
Citation: BATES004298.
The Plaintiff was terminated on June 30, 2020. Undisputed. Agree.
Citation: BATES004214.
Disputed. The superintendent Mr.
Defendant Doe made the decision to terminate the
Smith, not Defendant Doe, made the
Plaintiff. Citation: BATES005732; Doe Dep. Tr. 10:22-
decision to terminate the Plaintiff. Agree.
11:1.
Citation: BATES006873; Smith Dep.
Tr. 51:15-24.
Defendant Doe’s employment records state that, in 2019,
Undisputed.
he was investigated for “potential misuse of the company Disagree.
credit card.” Citation: BATES006832.
