Also known as: movants · moving party
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A party who initiates a motion before a court or other deliberative body. The movant bears the burden of satisfying any procedural prerequisites such as certification of good-faith efforts or identification of the relief sought.
Marcus Mitchell served document requests on Marathon Logistics in a contract dispute. After Marathon failed to respond and ignored two meet-and-confer emails, Marcus filed a motion asking the court to order production. The motion included a certification detailing the attempts to resolve the matter informally.
In a federal criminal trial, defense counsel Melissa Mills cross-examined a government informant who had testified on direct. Melissa moved the court to require production of the informant's prior statements relating to the same subject matter. The court granted the motion and directed the prosecutor to turn over the materials.
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Mason McCarthy filed for legal separation and simultaneously sought a temporary order preventing his spouse from selling company servers and cryptocurrency. The motion asked the court to restrain transfers outside the ordinary course of business and to require notice of any extraordinary expenditures. The court issued the requested injunction after reviewing the supporting affidavit.
After the close of the plaintiff's evidence in a negligence trial, Michelle Murphy moved for judgment as a matter of law. The motion specified the elements of duty and causation that the evidence failed to establish and requested entry of judgment in the defendant's favor. The court took the motion under advisement.
Miguel Mendoza moved for production of an entire police report after a witness testified on direct examination. The court determined that the full document related to the subject matter of the testimony and therefore ordered the government to deliver the complete statement to the defense.
Meredith Maxwell moved for summary judgment on a breach-of-contract claim, identifying the absence of any genuine dispute over the existence of a valid agreement or breach. The motion attached affidavits and business records showing that the defendant had failed to make required payments. The court granted the motion after finding no triable issue of material fact.
The movant must certify that a good-faith effort was made to confer with the opposing party before filing the motion. This certification ensures the court that informal resolution was attempted.
After a witness other than the defendant has testified on direct examination, the movant may request any statement in the government's possession that relates to the subject matter of the testimony.
The movant may obtain an order restraining transfers of property outside the ordinary course of business and requiring notice of extraordinary expenditures.
The movant must specify the judgment sought and the law and facts that entitle the movant to that judgment.
The movant must show that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
…708; and in Hartsfield v. Sloan , 357 U. S. 916, denying mandamus sought to compel the convening of a three-judge court movants urged the Court to advance consideration of their case, "Inasmuch as the mere lapse of time before this case can be reached in the normal course of . . . business may defeat the cause, and…