Opinion ID: 1930985
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: whether the trial court erred in granting ssd's motion for summary judgment without allowing an oral hearing.

Text: ¶ 7. For a summary judgment motion to be granted, there must exist no genuine issue of material fact, and the moving party must be entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Miss. R. Civ. P. 56(c). The standard of review of a trial court's grant of a motion for summary judgment is de novo. Hancock v. Mid Am. Servs. Inc., 836 So.2d 762, 764 (Miss.2003) (citing Short v. Columbus Rubber & Gasket Co., 535 So.2d 61, 63 (Miss.1988)). The burden of demonstrating that there is no genuine issue of material fact falls upon the party requesting the summary judgment. This Court will reverse if any triable issue of material fact exists; if not, we will affirm. Id. ¶ 8. SSD filed its motion for summary judgment on June 30, 2000. Croke filed his response to SSD's motion for summary judgment on September 19, 2000. Four months after the initial motion, the trial court entered summary judgment on November 2, 2000. In a footnote, the chancellor explained the reason for not holding an oral hearing: [SSD] requested oral argument on its Summary Judgment Motion. The Court hereby denies that request as unnecessarily repetitious, as the issues were thoroughly briefed by the parties. Croke asserts that the trial court deprived him of a valuable right afforded under Rule 56(c) of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure by granting SSD's motion for summary judgment without conducting an oral hearing. ¶ 9. Summary judgment may be entered if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Miss. R. Civ. P. 56(c). ¶ 10. Croke argues that the trial court's failure to grant an oral hearing was a procedural error which affected Appellant's substantial rights as a litigant. He submits that Rule 56(c) itself clearly contemplates that the trial court will conduct a hearing prior to entering a summary judgment. Rule 56(c) of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure states in pertinent part the following: (c) Motions and Proceedings Thereon. The motion shall be served at least ten days before the time fixed for the hearing. The adverse party prior to the day of the hearing may serve opposing affidavits. The judgment sought shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories 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. Miss. R. Civ. P. 56(c). This Court has recognized that there is not an explicit or implicit right to a hearing under Rule 56(c), but that there appears to be in other rules. See Adams v. Cinemark USA, Inc., 831 So.2d 1156 (Miss.2002). Rule 78 of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure provides: Each court shall establish procedures for prompt dispatch of business, at which motions requiring notice and hearing may be heard and disposed of; but the judge at any time or place and on such notice, if any, as he considers reasonable may make orders for the advancement, conduct, and hearing of such actions. To expedite business, the court may make provision by rule or order for the submission and determination of motions not seeking final judgment without oral hearing upon brief written statements of reasons in support and opposition. In Adams, we found that, due to the finality of summary judgments, the trial court committed error by failing to grant a hearing upon a motion for summary judgment. However, finding no unresolved issues of material fact, we concluded that the error was harmless. Adams, 831 So.2d at 1163-64. This case differs from Adams in that the summary judgment granted here was not final. Several days later, SSD filed a motion for a damages hearing and Croke filed a motion for reconsideration of the summary judgment. Subsequently, the court held a hearing on damages and then issued a final order on October 3, 2001. The court refused to reconsider the summary judgment granted. ¶ 11. In Adams, we also discussed the federal courts' definition of hearing, which within the meaning of Rule 56 has been held to refer to the final submission of summary judgment motion papers, rather than implying a requirement that a full-fledged hearing with receipt of oral evidence take place with every motion. Adams, 831 So.2d at 1164-65 (citing 11 James Wm. Moore's Federal Practice 56.15[1][a] at 56-200.1 (3d ed.2002)). Thus, the pleadings and other papers submitted to the court in consideration of the motion could be sufficient to satisfy the Rule 56 hearing requirement in federal court. Furthermore, federal courts have ruled that the decision to grant a summary judgment hearing lies with the trial judge: Courts generally recognize the advisability of allowing oral argument on summary judgment motions, but even the Fifth Circuit now agrees that the court has the power to order summary judgment without a hearing if it feels that sufficient information is available in the pleadings and the papers in support of and opposition to the motion so that a hearing would be of no utility. 10A Charles Alan Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Mary Kay Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil § 2720.1, at 357 (3d ed.1998) (footnotes omitted). Adams, 831 So.2d at 1164-65. ¶ 12. Given our holding in Adams, we find no reversible error here by the chancellor in granting summary judgment without an oral hearing when the issues have been thoroughly presented in the briefs.