Which pretrial motion asks the court to enter a judgment when no material facts are in dispute?

• A. Motion to dismiss
• B. Motion for summary judgment
• C. Interrogatories
• D. Subpoena

Answer: (B)

The concept here is deciding a case without a trial when there are no material facts in dispute. A motion for summary judgment is used when the parties agree on the essential facts or have evidence showing there’s no genuine issue about those facts, so the case can be resolved as a matter of law. The moving party carries the initial burden to show there’s no material fact left to resolve; if that burden is met, the nonmoving party must come forward with evidence of a genuine dispute. If the court finds no material facts in dispute, it grants judgment on the merits without trial. The other options serve different purposes: a motion to dismiss challenges the sufficiency of the complaint, interrogatories are discovery tools to obtain information, and a subpoena compels the production of or testimony from a third party.