Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment: Filing, Timing, and Sample Structure

A cross-motion for summary judgment is what you file when the other side has moved for summary judgment and you want the court to rule the opposite way: not just deny their motion, but enter judgment for you. It’s two arguments in one package. You oppose their motion by pointing to genuine factual disputes, and you affirmatively move for your own judgment by showing the undisputed facts entitle you to win as a matter of law. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 governs both halves, and courts read the filing strictly, so the structure has to be right before a judge will look at the merits.

The Dual Role You’re Playing

The tension in a cross-motion is that you occupy both sides of Rule 56 at the same time. As the cross-movant, you carry the movant’s burden: you have to show there is no genuine dispute of material fact and that you are entitled to judgment as a matter of law.¹ As the nonmovant on the original motion, you have to identify genuine disputes that prevent judgment for your opponent. The two postures require you to treat the same record differently depending on which motion the court is considering.

Filing cross-motions does not signal that both sides agree the facts are undisputed. Courts evaluate each motion on its own, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to whichever party opposes that specific motion.² That means the judge can grant one, deny the other, deny both, or grant partial relief on each.

The Standard You Have to Meet

Rule 56(a) states that summary judgment is proper only where “there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”¹ A fact is material if it could affect the outcome under the governing law. A dispute is genuine if the evidence would let a reasonable jury return a verdict for the nonmoving party. There is no reduced standard because you are cross-moving instead of moving first.³

The moving party’s initial burden is not necessarily to disprove the opponent’s case. Under Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, the movant can satisfy it by showing the record contains no evidence supporting a necessary element of the other side’s claim.⁴ Once that showing is made, the nonmovant has to come forward with specific record evidence creating a genuine dispute. Conclusory affidavits will not do it.

What Goes Into the Filing

A cross-motion is a package, not a single document. Every piece serves a purpose, and missing components can get the motion struck without a merits ruling. Local rules vary, but the federal core is consistent.

Notice of Cross-Motion

The notice identifies the claims or defenses on which you seek summary judgment, states the relief you want, references the original motion you are opposing, and includes a hearing date if the court requires oral argument.

Statement of Undisputed Material Facts

This is the section judges read most carefully. Each fact you contend is beyond dispute goes in its own numbered paragraph with a citation to the specific part of the record supporting it: deposition page and line, affidavit paragraph, interrogatory answer, or authenticated exhibit.¹ Because you are also opposing the other motion, the statement does double duty: it responds to each of the original movant’s proposed facts by admitting them, denying them with a counter-citation, or admitting them while explaining why they actually support your position. A poorly cited fact gets treated as contested, which cuts against you as the cross-movant.

Memorandum of Law

The memorandum ties the undisputed facts to the governing law. Lay out the elements of each claim or defense at issue, walk through the record showing each element is satisfied (or that your opponent cannot satisfy theirs), and address the original motion’s legal arguments directly. Rebut their motion first, then make the affirmative case for yours.

Supporting Exhibits

Your evidence has to be in a form that would be admissible at trial. Rule 56(c)(4) requires affidavits and declarations to be based on personal knowledge, to set out facts admissible in evidence, and to show the declarant is competent to testify.¹ Typical exhibits are deposition transcripts, sworn declarations, written admissions, and authenticated documents like contracts or correspondence.

Proposed Order and Certificate of Service

Most courts require a proposed order for the judge to sign if the motion is granted, and a certificate of service confirming every party received the filing. Some jurisdictions also require a separate notice of hearing. These are the pieces most commonly forgotten, and forgetting them is the kind of mistake that gets the motion returned without consideration.

Sample Structure of the Package

Here is how the components fit together in a typical federal filing. Exact form depends on local rules and case complexity, but the sequence is stable:

Caption with court name, case number, party names, and document title (for example, “Defendant’s Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment”)
Notice of Cross-Motion identifying the relief sought, referencing the original motion, and stating any hearing date
Opposition to the original motion, including a paragraph-by-paragraph response to the movant’s statement of facts and legal argument for denial
Cross-Movant’s Statement of Undisputed Material Facts, numbered, each paragraph with a record citation
Memorandum of Law in Support of the Cross-Motion, applying the undisputed facts to the elements with case law and statutory authority
Exhibits, tabbed and labeled (depositions, declarations, documents, admissions)
Proposed Order granting the cross-motion and denying the original motion
Certificate of Service

Some courts require the opposition and the cross-motion to be filed as separate documents; others allow a combined brief. Check the local rules before you file.

When It’s Due

Rule 56(b) permits a summary judgment motion any time until 30 days after the close of all discovery, unless a local rule or court order says otherwise.¹ A cross-motion is generally due within the response window for opposing the original motion. That window varies by district, and many federal courts allow 21 to 28 days.

Miss the response deadline and the consequences are steep. Under Rule 56(e), if you fail to properly address the other side’s assertion of fact, the court may treat that fact as undisputed and grant summary judgment on that basis.¹

What the Court Can Do With Competing Motions

The judge has more options than a straight win-lose.

Grant one motion and deny the other, ending the case or the resolved claims with a judgment.
Grant partial summary judgment. Under Rule 56(g), the court can find certain facts not genuinely disputed and treat them as established for the case even if it cannot resolve the whole thing, narrowing what goes to trial.¹
Deny both motions and send the case to trial with the full evidentiary record open.
Grant judgment on grounds neither party raised, or for the nonmovant, under Rule 56(f), after giving notice and a reasonable time to respond.¹

That last possibility is worth pausing on. Because the court can grant judgment for a nonmovant on its own initiative, filing a cross-motion has strategic value even in cases where you expect it to be denied: it frames the arguments the court might adopt on its own.

If both motions are denied, facts that a party failed to properly dispute are treated as undisputed only for purposes of the motion. At trial, they are contestable again.

Evidentiary Objections

Either side can attack the other’s evidence. Rule 56(c)(2) allows a party to object that material cited to support or dispute a fact “cannot be presented in a form that would be admissible in evidence.”¹ An affidavit from someone without personal knowledge, an unauthenticated document, or an expert opinion that would not survive a Daubert challenge can all be struck. If the objection is sustained and the movant has no other evidence for that fact, the fact drops out. When a fact central to the motion disappears, the whole motion can collapse. File evidentiary objections alongside the opposition and cross-motion rather than saving them for reply.

Don’t File One That Isn’t Warranted

A cross-motion should not be filed for delay or settlement leverage. Rule 11 requires a reasonable inquiry into the facts and law before any motion is presented. By signing, the attorney certifies that the legal arguments are warranted by existing law or a nonfrivolous argument for changing it, and that factual contentions have evidentiary support.⁵

A party seeking sanctions must serve the Rule 11 motion on the offender and wait 21 days before filing it, giving the filer a chance to withdraw the pleading. Sanctions imposed must be limited to what is needed to deter the conduct and can include the opposing party’s attorney’s fees caused by the violation. A law firm is jointly responsible for violations by its attorneys absent exceptional circumstances.⁵

1
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 56 – Summary Judgment
2
Legal Information Institute. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242 (1986)
3
eCFR. 13 CFR 134.212 – Summary Judgment
4
Justia U.S. Supreme Court. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317 (1986)
5
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 11 – Signing Pleadings, Motions, and Other Papers; Representations to the Court; Sanctions