Opinion ID: 199543
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: some threshold principles

Text: 11 We preface our discussion of the central issue with a reminder as to certain threshold principles that inform our analysis. Summary judgment is appropriate only when 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. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). In reviewing an order granting summary judgment, we construe the record and all reasonable inferences from it in favor of the summary judgment loser. Grant's Dairy-Me., LLC v. Comm'r of Me. Dep't of Agric., Food & Rural Res., 232 F.3d 8, 14 (1st Cir. 2000); Houlton Citizens' Coalition, 175 F.3d at 184. Our review is plenary, so that we may, if the occasion arises, reject the rationale employed by the lower court and still uphold its order for summary judgment. Perez v. Volvo Car Corp., 247 F.3d 303, 310 (1st Cir. 2001) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). 12 In this diversity case, we look to state law (here, the law of Massachusetts) for the substantive rules of decision. Erie R.R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 78(1938); Fithian v. Reed, 204 F.3d 306, 308 (1st Cir. 2000). In such matters, we are bound by the teachings of the state's highest court. Blinzler v. Marriott Int'l, Inc., 81 F.3d 1148, 1151 (1st Cir. 1996). In the absence of a definitive ruling by the highest state court, a federal court may consider analogous decisions, considered dicta, scholarly works, and any other reliable data tending convincingly to show how the highest court in the state would decide the issue at hand . . . . Gibson v. City of Cranston, 37 F.3d 731, 736 (1st Cir. 1994) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Our duty is to make an informed prophecy - to discern the rule the state's highest court would be most likely to follow under these circumstances, even if our independent judgment might differ. Ambrose v. New Engl. Ass'n of Schs. & Colls., 252 F.3d 488, 497-98 (1st Cir. 2001).