The summary judgment process provides a method of terminating a case before it is submitted to the jury when only questions of law are involved and there are no genuine issues of fact. When a party to a lawsuit cannot show that there is a fact issue for the jury to determine, the grant of summary judgment to the opposing party does not violate the constitutional right to a jury trial.

A summary judgment is often filed after the parties discover some facts in the discovery process, and one or both parties believe that the facts conclusively establish their right to prevail at trial, and that no reasonable jury could find the facts to be otherwise.

In Louisiana, the summary judgment process is a legal mechanism that allows a court to promptly dispose of a case without a trial when there are no genuine issues of material fact in dispute and the case can be decided on legal questions alone. This process is governed by Article 966 of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure. A party may file a motion for summary judgment after the discovery phase if they believe that the evidence is so one-sided that they should prevail as a matter of law. The court will grant summary judgment if it finds that there is no factual dispute and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The non-moving party must present evidence showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. If the court grants summary judgment, it means that the case is resolved without the need for a jury trial, which is constitutionally permissible as long as no factual issues exist that would require jury deliberation. Summary judgment is not a violation of the right to a jury trial because it is only granted when factual disputes are absent and only legal issues remain.