Q: Plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment. I responded in the time period given. They did not Can I get it dismissed
I am a defendant in the case. Plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment. I responded in the time period alloted by the court order. They were given 10 days to reply to my respone to the summary judgment motion. They did not. I got their reponse 2 days before court . According to the paperwork they filed it after the 10 days also. Can I ask the court to dismiss the case on those grounds
A:
You can ask but it won't work. Even if they didn't reply at all, unless you plead an affirmative defense, the judge could still decide the case on the initial motion and your response.
There are very different rules in small claims court, and I'm guessing your case is a small claims case? Small claims courts are run with particular informality, and the court is not going to dismiss this case simply because they were a little bit late with their response.
A better argument would simply be to argue that you had insufficient notice of their reply, and so the judge should not consider the contents of their reply in her/his ruling. Again, the judge probably will rule against you on this point, but you can try.
Good luck in your case. Hope this is helpful.
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