Tolan v. Cotton

May 10th, 2014
Elizabeth Franklin-Best

This past week SCOTUS issued the above decision which addresses the elementary legal issue of the standard for granting summary judgment in civil cases. The dissent makes exactly this point. Nothing new here, move along. But for those of us with summary judgments right around the corner, it comes as a pleasant surprise as it seems clear the Court is reminding lower courts not to toss these cases out of court. As the Court reaffirms, all of the evidence of the non-moving party is to be believed, and all reasonable inferences drawn in their favor. Nice! Now let’s pick a jury!