Any party moving for summary judgment against an unrepresented party shall serve
the unrepresented party with its summary judgment papers and a copy of Federal
Rule of Civil Procedure 56, Local Rule 56.1, and this Local Rule 56.2 Notice. The
moving party must also file this Local Rule 56.2 Notice, with a certificate of service. If
the unrepresented party is not the plaintiff, the movant shall revise this Local Rule
56.2 Notice to describe the parties, movant, and nonmovant.
Notice to Unrepresented Litigants Opposing Summary Judgment
The defendant has moved for summary judgment against you. That makes the
defendant the “movant” and you the “nonmovant.” By moving for summary judgment,
the defendant is arguing to the judge that there is no need for a trial because: (1)
there is no legitimate disagreement about the important facts of the case; and (2)
applying the law to those facts, the defendant wins. The defendant may move for
partial summary judgment (meaning only as to some of the claims or issues raised by
your complaint) or for summary judgment on all claims.
When moving for summary judgment, the defendant must serve on you and file:
(1) a statement of facts, which is a list of the facts the defendant thinks are true
and undisputed;
(2) the evidence that supports those facts; and
(3) a memorandum of law that makes a legal argument about why the defendant
wins based on the law and the facts.
There are rules that both lawyers and people without lawyers must follow in moving
for or opposing summary judgment. If you do not follow the rules, then the judge
may not consider your facts or your arguments.
This notice is meant to help explain the summary judgment process to you. If you
have more questions, you can visit the United States District Court for the Northern
District of Illinois’s Clerk’s Office on the 20th floor of the Everett McKinley Dirksen
U.S. Courthouse, 219 S. Dearborn, Chicago, Illinois 60604, and ask about the William
J. Hibbler Memorial Pro Se Assistance Program. You can also make an appointment
with the program online. This program cannot provide you with a lawyer but can
answer certain procedural questions about opposing summary judgment.
What You Must File
To respond to the summary judgment motion, you must file, as separate documents:
a response to the defendant’s statement of material facts (see Section I);
a statement of additional facts, if you want the judge to consider facts not
included in the defendant’s statement of material facts or your response to the
defendant’s statement (see Section II);
the evidentiary material that supports your response to the defendant’s
statement of facts and any statement of additional facts (the material should be
labeled as exhibits); and
a memorandum of law that explains why the defendant is not entitled to
summary judgment based on the facts and the law (see Section III).
More details about these documents are below. If you do not respond to the
defendant’s summary judgment motion by the deadline the judge gives you, the judge
may rule on the motion based solely on what the defendant has to say. Even if you file
your own summary judgment motion, you still must respond to the defendant’s
summary judgment motion.
I. Response to Defendant’s Statement of Facts
The defendant has listed what it thinks are undisputed facts in a series of short
paragraphs. This document is called a “statement of facts.” For each fact, the
defendant must point to evidence—such as affidavits, deposition transcripts,
recordings, and other documents—that the fact is true.
You must respond to each of the defendant’s facts, paragraph by paragraph. If you
do not respond to a fact asserted by the defendant, the judge may decide
that you have admitted that the fact is true. Here is how you can respond to a
fact asserted by the defendant:
(a) Admit it.
If you agree with a fact, write “Admitted.” If you admit a fact in your response,
you cannot later deny that fact in your statement of additional facts or in your
legal argument.
(b) Dispute it.
If you think that a fact is not supported by the evidentiary material cited by the
defendant, you should write “Disputed” and then briefly explain why you
dispute the fact and cite the specific page(s) of evidence that supports your
position.
If your response cites evidence that the defendant did not submit, you must
include that additional evidence in an appendix filed and served along with
your response.
For example, if the defendant asserts that the traffic light was red at a
particular time and supports that assertion with an affidavit, and if you believe
that the light was green at that time, you can dispute the asserted fact and cite
to evidentiary material (such as an affidavit, declaration, or deposition
testimony) that supports your view that the light was green.
(c) Object to evidence that the defendant submitted.
If you would like to object to a particular piece of evidence cited in the
defendant’s statement of facts—for example, because it is not relevant or is
hearsay—you should briefly explain your objection. When addressing facts, the
memorandum must cite directly to specific paragraphs in the LR 56.1
statements or responses. If you both disagree with a fact and object to the
evidence that the defendant cites to support that fact, then your response to
that fact should explain both your denial of the fact and your objection. If you
object to the defendant’s evidence but do not deny the fact, and the judge
overrules your objection, then the judge may consider you to have admitted the
fact.
Do not include these things in your response to statements of fact:
• New facts. To state new facts, meaning facts that are not fairly responsive to
the defendant’s asserted facts, list them in your separate statement of
additional fact (see Section II).
• Legal arguments. Legal arguments must be made in your brief (see Section
III). The one exception is for arguments in support of legal objections (for
example, hearsay) to the evidentiary material cited by the defendant.
For help formatting your response to the defendant’s statement of facts, see the Local
Rule 56.1 examples on the court’s website.
II. Statement of Additional Facts
If you want the judge to consider new facts—meaning facts other than those in the
defendant’s statement of facts or your response to the statement of facts—you must
submit a statement of additional facts as a separate document from your response to
the defendant’s statement. If you do not submit a statement of additional facts,
the judge may consider only the asserted facts in the defendant’s statement
of facts and any facts in your response to the defendant’s statement of facts
that are fairly responsive to the defendant’s asserted facts.
Your statement of additional facts should be organized into short, numbered
paragraphs with no more than one fact in each paragraph. Unless you get permission
from the judge, your statement of additional facts must not have more than 40
numbered paragraphs.
You must support each fact with a citation to a specific piece of evidence
that supports it. For example, you might cite a particular page of a deposition
transcript, a particular paragraph of an affidavit, or a timestamp on a recording. You
can cite the evidence that the defendant submitted with its statement of material
facts to support your statement of additional facts. You can also cite your own
evidence that the defendant did not submit, but you must file and serve that evidence
along with your statement of additional facts.
If you want to submit evidence of your own testimony (other than a deposition
transcript), you should prepare an affidavit or declaration, which sets forth facts you
know to be true based on your personal knowledge. An affidavit must be signed and
notarized, while a declaration must be signed and include the following language from
28 U.S.C. § 1746: “I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and
correct. Executed on [insert date]. [Signature].”
For help formatting your statement of additional facts, see the Local Rule 56.1
examples on the court’s website. The defendant will have an opportunity to respond to
your statement of additional facts.
III. Memorandum of Law
The defendant has submitted a legal memorandum explaining why it should win the
case on summary judgment based on its statement of facts and governing law. You
must answer that brief by filing a memorandum that responds to the defendant’s
arguments and explains why the defendant should not win the case on summary
judgment. Your memorandum should be separate from your response to the
defendant’s statement of facts and your statement of additional facts.
Your memorandum should explain why the defendant is not entitled to summary
judgment. If you do not make a legal argument in your memorandum, you may lose
the opportunity to make that argument on appeal. You can argue that because you
and the defendant disagree on important facts, there needs to be a trial to decide
which of you is right about those facts. You can also explain why the defendant’s legal
arguments are wrong based on the law or based on the facts that you disputed in your
response and/or that you included in your statement of additional facts.
IV. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 and Local Rule 56.1
Summary judgment is governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, and the United
States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois also has a Local Rule 56.1.
Local Rule 56.1(a) explains what someone seeking summary judgment must submit,
and Local Rule 56.1(b) explains what you need to do to oppose summary judgment.
Reading this Notice is not a substitute for reviewing Rule 56 and Local Rule 56.1. You
should be familiar with Rule 56 and Local Rule 56.1 before you prepare your
opposition to summary judgment. You should also review the Local Rule 56.1
examples on the court’s website.
Adopted July 1, 2008. Amended February 19, 2021.
