Missouri’s New Green Standard or Gray Area? What Facts and Evidence Missouri Courts Must Consider in Summary Judgment Motions Green v. Fotoohighiam, 606 S.W.3d 113 (Mo. 2020) (en banc).

Authors

Clayton A. Voss

Abstract

Over the past three decades, it has become routine for Missouri litigators to cite ITT Commercial Fin. Corp. v. Mid-Am. Marine Supply Corp. as Missouri’s summary judgment standard. It has remained one of the Supreme Court of Missouri’s most cited opinions regarding summary judgment despite revisions to Missouri Rule of Civil Procedure 74.04(c)(1)–(2) in 1994 – one year after ITT interpreted and applied the previous version of the rule. In August 2020, the Supreme Court of Missouri revised ITT’s outdated guidance on what constitutes the record upon which trial courts must rely when deciding motions for summary judgment. Green v. Fotoohighiam was the Supreme Court of Missouri’s first time clarifying these rules and the first time that the court formally overruled parts of ITT and cases applying it. In doing so, the court indicated that facts come into the summary judgment record only via reference in a Rule 74.04(c) statement of uncontroverted material fact or response thereto.

Recommended Citation

Clayton A. Voss, Missouri’s New Green Standard or Gray Area? What Facts and Evidence Missouri Courts Must Consider in Summary Judgment Motions Green v. Fotoohighiam, 606 S.W.3d 113 (Mo. 2020) (en banc)., 86 Mo. L. Rev. (2021)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr/vol86/iss4/12