Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: Filing an opposition to the opposition for summary judgment/summary adjudication

You can file objections to any new evidence raised in the reply brief or object to them at the hearing. Research any new issues brought up in the reply brief, and discuss those at the hearing, especially new cases discussed.

Re: Filing an opposition to the opposition for summary judgment/summary adjudication

Opposing consel has filed a reply to your opposition..you can file a reply to that or just make oral argument during the hearing.

Re: Filing an opposition to the opposition for summary judgment/summary adjudication

With all motions, there is a motion, and opposition, and a reply. There are time limitations and page limitations for each. Also, you can object to evidence offered, such as a declaration. Summary judgment motions are a special type of motion and subject to additional rules. In addition to requiring more advance time before the hearing, of special importance is the requirement to file a separate statement of undisputed facts. For a comprehensive review of the requirements, go to your local law library and ask the law librarian for a copy of the Rutter Group publication, Civil Procedure Before Trial. It's sort of the dummies book for law practice and lays things out very clearly. Of course, the easiest and safest approach is to retain legal counsel because there are many complications to these motions not contained in any simple summary.

Re: Filing an opposition to the opposition for summary judgment/summary adjudication

Opposing counsel's most recent brief is probably a reply, not an opposition. The reply is the last brief allowed by the Code of Civil Procedure, but in unusual circumstances parties can file surreplies; the court won't have to consider such briefs but often will if there is something very unusual about the reply.

As Ms. Cowin and Mr. Cohen have noted, you can still file objections to any new evidence that accompanied the reply. Whether you have any grounds for such objections is another question.

Summary judgment motions are very complex procedurally. Making procedural errors can cause you to lose a motion you otherwise should have won. Your question suggests that you don't know very much about procedural rules, so there is a very good chance that your opposition was deficient and that the motion will succeed even if you could have defeated it.