What "MSJ denied" and "MSJ granted" actually mean for your case.
A motion for summary judgment — MSJ for short — is one of the most important rulings most civil cases ever get. It is also one of the most commonly misunderstood, including by clients reading the firm update from their own lawyer. Here is the short version of what each possible outcome actually means.
The plain-English version
A motion for summary judgment asks the trial court to decide the case (or part of it) without a trial, because the facts that matter are not really in dispute and the law clearly favors one side. There are three things the court can do with the motion:
- Grant the MSJ. The moving party wins. Judgment is entered. The case is over at the trial-court level, subject to appeal.
- Grant summary adjudication. The moving party wins on some causes of action or some issues, but not the whole case. The rest of the case continues to trial.
- Deny the MSJ. The court has decided there are disputed facts that need to be resolved at trial. The case continues. Neither side has won anything yet on the merits.
The confusion clients usually run into
The confusion is almost always about denial. If the defendant's MSJ is denied, the plaintiff's lawyer will sometimes describe it as "winning the MSJ." Technically that is correct — the plaintiff won the motion. But "winning the MSJ" in that sense does not mean the plaintiff has won the case. It means the case is going to trial.
The reverse confusion is rarer but more painful: a defendant whose MSJ was granted will sometimes hear from the plaintiff's counsel that the case "isn't really over." That depends on whether judgment has been entered and whether an appeal is filed within the deadline. Until the appeal clock runs out, no MSJ ruling is truly final.
Why we are careful about this on our matters page
If you read our representative matters page, you will see that we describe MSJ outcomes precisely. We say things like "MSJ denied; case proceeds to trial." We do not say "MSJ win." That is on purpose. California Rule of Professional Conduct 7.1 prohibits a lawyer from making a statement about legal services that is likely to create an unjustified expectation. Calling an interlocutory denial a "win" implies a finality the ruling does not have.
This matters in two directions. It matters because we owe potential clients an accurate picture of what we have actually done. And it matters because clients who are in a case need to understand that the work continues after an MSJ ruling, in both directions.
What happens after each ruling
If your MSJ was granted (you were the moving party):
- The court will direct preparation of a judgment. Once entered, the appeal clock starts.
- The other side has 60 days from service of notice of entry of judgment to file a notice of appeal.
- You may also be entitled to recover costs as the prevailing party, and in some cases attorney's fees if a statute or contract provides for them.
- The case is not "over" in a final sense until the appellate clock runs out without an appeal — or, if an appeal is filed, until the Court of Appeal affirms.
If your MSJ was denied (you opposed the motion as plaintiff):
- The case continues. You did not "win" damages or anything else. You won the right to continue litigating.
- Trial-court deadlines for discovery cutoff, final witness lists, motions in limine, and trial start moving back into focus.
- The denial is generally not immediately appealable. The losing party can sometimes seek writ review, but most denials are reviewed only after a final judgment in your favor.
If summary adjudication was granted on some but not all issues:
- Whatever was adjudicated is off the table for trial. Whatever was not is still live.
- This is often the most consequential pre-trial ruling in a case, because it can knock out punitive damages, key affirmative defenses, or specific causes of action without ending the case.
One sentence to take with you
"Granted" usually ends a case (subject to appeal). "Denied" almost always means the case continues. Anything in between is summary adjudication, and you should ask your lawyer specifically what was decided and what is still on the table.
If you have just received an MSJ ruling — granted or denied — and you are not sure what your real options are, the appellate side of our practice exists for exactly that conversation. The clock matters; the analysis should not wait.