motions if matters outside the pleadings are presented toand not excluded bythe trial-court judge. A party seeking summary judgment (or making any other motion) is called the movant (usually, this is defendant); the opposing party is the nonmovant (usually, plaintiff). Per Rule 56(a), issuance of summary judgment can be based only upon the court's finding that, both: there exists no disputed, genuine issue of material fact between the parties requiring a trial to resolve; and in applying the law to the (undisputed) facts, one party is clearly entitled by law to judgment. Here: An issue of (purported) fact is a (potential) event that the factfinder at trial (jury, or judge in the case of a bench trial) is charged with crediting (determining what "really happened", according to the credibility of the witnesses/experts/etc. at trial). A disputed issue/fact means movant claims one thing, while nonmovant makes a different (conflicting/contradictory) claim. A genuine issue/fact is one that can be resolved in favor by either party, by some rational/reasonable factfinder. A material issue/fact is one that has the potential of affecting the outcome of the case/issue in dispute (judgment in favor of one party over the other). Of cardinal importance here is that, by design, the judge had no discretion at summary judgment time: all fact-finding is done by the jury at trial, not by the judge at summary judgment (the judge only looks for the existence of disputed facts to be found). Summary judgment in the United States applies only in civil cases. It does not apply to criminal cases to obtain a pretrial judgment of conviction or acquittal, in part because a criminal defendant has a constitutional right to a jury trial. Some federal and state-court judges publish general guidelines and sample summary judgment forms. According to Federal Judicial Center research, summary-judgment motions are filed in 17% of federal cases. 71% of summary-judgment motions were filed by defendants, 26% by plaintiffs. Out of these, 36% of the motions were denied, and 64% were granted in whole or in part. From a tactical perspective, there are two basic types of summary-judgment motions. One requires a full evidentiary presentation, and the other requires only a more limited, targeted one. First, a plaintiff may seek summary judgment on any cause of action, and similarly, a defendant may seek summary judgment in its favor on any affirmative defense. But in either case, the moving party