On review of the pleadings in this type of dismissal, the judge looks to see if the material allegations of fact are admitted in the pleadings and thus only questions of law remain. The only prerequisite is that the pleadings be "closed," meaning that the plaintiff has filed the complaint and the defendant has answered. In a motion for judgment on the pleadings, the judge is allowed to review both the complaint and the answer to determine whether the case should continue. While a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim deals only with the complaint, the defendant also may seek to have the case against the plaintiff dismissed by filing a motion for "judgment on the pleadings." The "pleadings" in a case are comprised of both the plaintiff's complaint and the defendant's answer (the defendant's response to the allegations of the complaint). At this early stage of the litigation, these are the only reasons for which the judge may dismiss the case. The judge is required to assume that all of the allegations of facts in the complaint are true and may only dismiss the complaint if the allegations do not, on their face, support a claim for relief, or if the allegations reveal some fatal flaw in the claim asserted. However, the standard test for the sufficiency of the complaint is fairly liberal. In other words, when a defendant moves to have a judge dismiss a lawsuit for failure to state a claim, with very limited exceptions, the only information that the judge may review is the complaint itself, not any outside evidence, testimony, or other items. Motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim arise early in the case and test the sufficiency of the complaint (the document filed by the plaintiff containing the statement of the case). In other words, there must be some legally recognized claim for relief, for example, trespass or negligence, upon which the plaintiff intends to proceed. Under the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure, a plaintiff (i.e., the one who files a lawsuit) must "state a claim" under North Carolina law. This article will focus on three of the most frequently used forms of involuntary early case dismissal: the plaintiff's "failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted," "judgment on the pleadings," and "summary judgment." There are procedural options that allow a judge to dismiss a particular matter without the need to go all the way to trial. It is the sole province of the judge to determine the law that applies. It's crucial to remember that the job of a jury is to determine the facts of the case. Contested factual issues must be decided at trial by a jury unless a jury trial is validly waived by the parties. That means that almost anyone is able to file a lawsuit for whatever reason, hail a party into court, and the judge may dispose of the lawsuit based only on a narrow set of justifications.
Those who have been sued often believe that there is a fast-track method for victory because commonsense says that they are "in the right."īut, despite this frequent view that lawsuits can easily be dismissed, the reality in America is that everyone enjoys the fundamental right to be heard and have their day in court. We often hear the phrases "frivolous case" or "thrown out of court," and, as these sayings imply, we make broad assumptions about the procedural and substantive validity of a lawsuit based on our subjective (and usually one-sided) perception of the case's merits.