Arizona Motion for Summary Judgment
Arizona runs the summary judgment clock forward from service of the motion rather than backward from a hearing date: the opposing party has 30 calendar days to respond, the moving party has 15 calendar days to reply, and Rule 56 was rewritten in part by an order effective January 1, 2024.
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Introduction
Arizona Rule of Civil Procedure 56 ties the summary judgment clock to service of the motion rather than to a fixed number of days' notice before a hearing. Once a motion for summary judgment is served, the opposing party, the respondent, must file its response and any supporting materials within 30 calendar days after service, and the moving party may then serve a reply memorandum and supporting materials within 15 calendar days after the response is served (Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(2)). These are calendar days under Rule 6(a): the day of service is excluded, and because both periods run 11 days or longer, weekends and holidays are counted, with the deadline rolling to the next non-holiday weekday only if it would otherwise fall on a weekend or holiday. Arizona has no separate fixed-notice-before-hearing requirement the way some states use; instead, on a party's timely request the court must set oral argument unless it determines the motion should be denied or is uncontested, and even then the court may decide the motion on the papers without oral argument (Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1); Ariz. R. Civ. P. 7.1(d)). A claimant may move for summary judgment only after a responsive pleading is due from the opposing party or after that party files its own Rule 12(b)(6) motion or summary judgment motion, while any other party may move at any time after the action is commenced; a motion may not be filed later than the dispositive motion deadline set by the court or local rule, or, absent such a deadline, 90 days before the date set for trial (Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(b)(1)-(3)). The court shall grant summary judgment if the moving party shows there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law (Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(a)). Arizona Supreme Court Order No. R-23-0019, effective January 1, 2024, rewrote the procedures in Rule 56(c)(3), (c)(4), and (c)(6) governing the separate statement of facts and objections to evidence, while the standard itself in Rule 56(a) was unchanged. The moving party must file a separate statement of material facts, in concise numbered paragraphs citing only admissible record evidence and containing no legal argument, limited in Tier 1 and 2 cases to 11 pages exclusive of attachments unless the court orders otherwise; the opposing party's responsive statement, identifying which numbered paragraphs are disputed and why, is limited to 17 pages, and no reply statement of facts is permitted from the moving party (Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(3)). Rule 56(a) allows a motion to target part of a claim or defense, so partial summary judgment does not require a separately named procedure, and under Rule 56(f), after notice and a reasonable time to respond, the court may grant summary judgment for a nonmoving party, grant it on grounds no party raised, or raise the issue on its own after identifying facts it believes are not genuinely disputed. Both the moving party and the party who was served need to track these dates: a respondent who misses the 30-day window risks having the motion decided without any opposing evidence, and an unopposed motion is not automatically granted, since the court must still find no genuine dispute of material fact and entitlement to judgment as a matter of law before granting it. Summary judgment practice is technical and is often lost on procedure rather than the merits, and attorney review is available before filing or responding. This page covers a civil motion for summary judgment in an Arizona state trial court under Rule 56. If you are asking a court to test the sufficiency of a complaint before answering it, see DocDraft's motion to dismiss page; if you are trying to undo a default judgment, see DocDraft's motion to set aside a default; and a federal civil case follows Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, not this state rule, and is outside the scope of this page.
Key Things to Know
- 1
Arizona's summary judgment clock runs forward from service of the motion, not backward from a hearing date: the opposing party has 30 calendar days after service to respond, and the moving party has 15 calendar days after the response is served to reply, all counted as calendar days under Rule 6(a) since both periods exceed 11 days (Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(2)).
- 2
If you are the party who was served with the motion, calculate your deadline from the date of service, not from any hearing notice: your response and any supporting materials, including your own responsive statement of facts, are due within 30 calendar days after service (Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(2)-(3)).
- 3
An unopposed Arizona summary judgment motion is not automatically granted: the court must still find that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law before granting it (Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(a)).
- 4
A motion may not be filed later than the dispositive motion deadline set by the court or local rule, or, absent such a deadline, 90 days before the date set for trial; a claimant may not move until a responsive pleading is due from the opposing party or that party has filed a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss or a summary judgment motion (Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(b)(1)-(3)).
- 5
Arizona Supreme Court Order No. R-23-0019, effective January 1, 2024, rewrote Rule 56(c)(3), (c)(4), and (c)(6) governing the separate statement of facts and evidentiary objections; the summary judgment standard in Rule 56(a) itself was not changed.
- 6
The moving party must file a separate statement of material facts in concise numbered paragraphs citing only admissible evidence, limited in Tier 1 and 2 cases to 11 pages exclusive of attachments unless the court orders otherwise; the opposing party's responsive statement, identifying which paragraphs are disputed and why, is limited to 17 pages, and no reply statement of facts is permitted (Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(3)).
- 7
Partial summary judgment on part of a claim or defense is built into Rule 56(a) itself, and under Rule 56(f) the court may grant summary judgment for the nonmoving party or on its own initiative after notice and a reasonable opportunity to respond. This page covers a motion for summary judgment only, not a motion to dismiss, not a motion to set aside a default judgment, and not a federal court motion, which follows a different rule.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Motion for Summary Judgment in Arizona, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Motion for Summary Judgment guide walks through them.
Open the Motion for Summary Judgment guideCustomize your Motion for Summary Judgment Template with DocDraft
Arizona Requirements for Motion for Summary Judgment
30-Calendar-Day Response Deadline Runs From Service
The opposing party must file its response and any supporting materials within 30 calendar days after the motion for summary judgment is served, with the clock running forward from service rather than backward from a hearing date (Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(2)).
15-Calendar-Day Reply Deadline
The moving party may serve a reply memorandum and supporting materials within 15 calendar days after the response is served, and no reply statement of facts is permitted (Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(2)-(3)).
Filing Cutoff of 90 Days Before Trial or Court-Set Deadline
A motion may not be filed later than the dispositive motion deadline set by the court or local rule, or, absent such a deadline, 90 days before the date set for trial (Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(b)(3)).
Claimant May Not Move Until Response Due or Opponent Moves First
A claimant may move for summary judgment only after a responsive pleading is due from the opposing party or after that party files its own Rule 12(b)(6) motion or summary judgment motion; any other party may move at any time after the action is commenced (Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(b)(1)-(2)).
Rule 56 Amended Effective January 1, 2024
Arizona Supreme Court Order No. R-23-0019, effective January 1, 2024, rewrote the procedures in Rule 56(c)(3), (c)(4), and (c)(6) governing the separate statement of facts and evidentiary objections; the standard in Rule 56(a) was unchanged.
Moving Party's Separate Statement Limited to 11 Pages
The moving party's separate statement of material facts must state each fact concisely in separately numbered paragraphs, citing only admissible record evidence, and in Tier 1 and 2 cases is limited to 11 pages exclusive of attachments unless the court orders otherwise (Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(3)(A)).
Opposing Party's Responsive Statement Limited to 17 Pages
The opposing party's responsive statement must identify which numbered paragraphs of the moving party's statement are disputed and why, with record citations, and is limited to 17 pages exclusive of attachments (Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(3)(B)).
Court May Grant Summary Judgment for the Nonmoving Party
After giving notice and a reasonable time to respond, the court may grant summary judgment for a nonmoving party, grant it on grounds not raised by a party, or raise it on its own after identifying facts it believes are not genuinely disputed (Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(f)).
Partial Summary Judgment Built Into Rule 56(a)
Rule 56(a) lets a party move for summary judgment on an entire claim or defense, or only the part of a claim or defense on which judgment is sought, without a separately named partial summary judgment procedure (Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(a)).