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You have a case currently pending in court. Your attorney calls you and says the defense
wants to throw your case out. How does this happen? My name is Kelsey Stokes and I'm an
attorney at Fleming, Nolen & Jez. And I want to talk to you about what is known as 'motion
practice' which is simply the both parties both attorneys filing motions that can greatly
affect your case. The basic definition of a motion is a request by a party to the court
to grant an order. However, it's more than just a mere request to grant an order. It
can be used strategically by a clever attorney and that's why you needed to know about them.
One reason why motion practice is important is because of what it can do to the length
of time it takes your case from beginning to end. Here's what happens. The party files
a motion. The other side has a certain number of days to respond. The number of days varies
depending on the motion. Then the motion gets set for a hearing. Now this hearing could
be 45 days away, 30 days away, it just depends on the motion. Once the motion is argued in
front of a judge, the judge then has time to rule. This could take several days or even
weeks -- as I said, it depends on the motion. The point is now your case has gone on for
a very long time and will continue to go on for a very long time the more motions are
filed. The motions that have the most significant impact on your case are often motions to dismiss
and motions for summary judgment. The grounds for this can be many: statute of limitations,
the jurisdiction is wrong, there is no claim, the forum is inconvenient, or there's just
no genuine issue of material fact and that's what happens in a summary judgment motion.
The point is it takes skill to maneuver around all these motions and it can possibly take
a lot of time. You need an attorney who knows how to do this. If you have questions, I encourage
you to give me a call. Again, my name is Kelsey Stokes and I'm an attorney at Fleming, Nolen
& Jez and I thank you for listening.