Opinion ID: 1665643
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: summary judgment practice in kentucky courts

Text: The relevant Kentucky rule relating to summary judgment, CR 56.03, authorizes such a judgment if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, stipulations, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. The benchmark case of Paintsville Hospital v. Rose, supra , specifically held that the proper function of summary judgment is to terminate litigation when, as a matter of law, it appears that it would be impossible for the respondent to produce evidence at the trial warranting a judgment in his favor. We further declared that such a judgment is only proper where the movant shows that the adverse party could not prevail under any circumstances. Finally, in that opinion, we recognize that summary judgment is not a substitute for trial nor is it the functional equivalent of a motion for directed verdict. While it has been recognized that summary judgment is designed to expedite the disposition of cases and avoid unnecessary trials when no genuine issues of material fact are raised, see, Dossett v. New York Mining and Manufacturing Co., Ky., 451 S.W.2d 843 (1970), this Court has also repeatedly admonished that the rule is to be cautiously applied. See, Rowland v. Miller's Adm'r, Ky. 307 S.W.2d 3 (1956). The record must be viewed in a light most favorable to the party opposing the motion for summary judgment and all doubts are to be resolved in his favor. Dossett v. New York Mining and Manufacturing Co., supra ; Rowland v. Miller's Adm'r, supra . Even though a trial court may believe the party opposing the motion may not succeed at trial, it should not render a summary judgment if there is any issue of material fact. Puckett v. Elsner, Ky., 303 S.W.2d 250 (1957). The trial judge must examine the evidence, not to decide any issue of fact, but to discover if a real issue exists. It clearly is not the purpose of the summary judgment rule, as we have often declared, to cut litigants off from their right of trial if they have issues to try. See, Bonded Elevator, Inc. v. First National Bank of Louisville, Ky., 680 S.W.2d 124 (1983); Hill v. Fiscal Court of Warren County, Ky., 429 S.W.2d 419 (1968); Williams v. Ehman, Ky., 394 S.W.2d 905 (1965); Rowland v. Miller's Adm'r, supra .