North Dakota summary judgment: 90 days before trial, 45 before the hearing, and a 38-page limit
North Dakota procedure · Last verified August 17, 2026
North Dakota's Rule 56 does something unusual: it puts the page limit, the typeface and the character spacing in the rule. Most states leave that to local rules or a judge's standing order. It also sets two filing deadlines rather than one, and it speaks throughout of declarations rather than affidavits.
Two deadlines, both working backwards
Rule 56(c)(1) carries the schedule:
The motion and supporting documents must be filed at least 90 days before the day set for trial and 45 days before the day set for the hearing unless otherwise ordered. An opposing party has 30 days after service of a brief to serve and file an answer brief and supporting documents. The moving party has 14 days to serve and file a reply brief.
| Step | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Motion and supporting documents | at least 90 days before trial and 45 days before the hearing |
| Answer brief and supporting documents | 30 days after service of a brief |
| Reply brief | 14 days |
Both filing figures have to be satisfied, not either one. A motion filed 50 days before a hearing that is itself only 60 days before trial fails the 90-day requirement even though it clears the 45-day one. Work from the trial date first.
When you may move at all
A claimant — Rule 56(a) waits out a short hold. A party claiming relief may move "with or without supporting declarations, for summary judgment on all or part of the claim," and the motion may be filed at any time after
(1) 21 days have passed from commencement of the action; or (2) the opposing party serves a motion for summary judgment.
Twenty-one days, matching the federal answer period rather than the twenty days Maine and Rhode Island use. And as in those states, being served with a summary-judgment motion releases the claimant from the wait.
A defending party — Rule 56(b) "may move at any time, with or without supporting declarations, for summary judgment on all or part of the claim."
The brief limits are in the rule
Rule 56(c)(2) is where North Dakota departs from most states. The limits are not suggestions from a scheduling order; they are rule text.
Length — Rule 56(c)(2)(A):
A principal brief or answer brief may not exceed 38 pages and a reply brief may not exceed 12 pages. Foot-notes must be included in the page count.
The footnote sentence closes the usual escape route.
Typeface — Rule 56(c)(2)(B):
The typeface must be 12 point or larger with no more than 16 characters per inch. The text must be double-spaced, except quotations may be single-spaced and indented.
Getting more room — Rule 56(c)(2)(C):
Upon written application and good cause shown, the court may enlarge the page volume limits provided in this rule. The application may not exceed two pages and must be filed no later than seven days prior to the deadline for filing the brief.
Note the two constraints on the application itself: two pages, and seven days before the brief is due. An application made when you discover on the final afternoon that the brief runs long is out of time.
The standard, and the risk of moving
Rule 56(c)(3) states the test in the pre-2010 form, adapted for declarations:
The judgment sought shall be rendered if the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any declarations show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
And then a sentence movants should read twice:
Summary judgment, when appropriate, may be rendered against the moving party.
North Dakota requires no separate statement of undisputed material facts — there is no analogue to South Dakota's Rule 15-6-56(c)(1) or Wyoming's Rule 56.1. The record citations belong in the brief and the declarations.
Declarations, not affidavits
The vocabulary is consistent through the rule, and it matters when you are preparing the supporting materials. Rule 56(e)(1):
A supporting or opposing declaration must be made on personal knowledge, set out facts that would be admissible in evidence, and show that the declarant is competent to testify on the matters stated. If a document or part of a document is referred to in a declaration, a sworn or certified copy must be attached to or served with the declaration.
The obligation on the party opposing is in Rule 56(e)(2):
When a motion for summary judgment is properly made and supported, an opposing party may not rely merely on allegations or denials in its own pleading; rather, its response must, by declarations or as otherwise provided in this rule, set out specific facts showing a genuine issue for trial. If the opposing party does not so respond, summary judgment shall, if appropriate, be entered against that party.
If the facts are not available yet
Rule 56(f) is the continuance, and it too runs on a declaration:
If a party opposing the motion shows by declaration that, for specified reasons, it cannot present facts essential to justify its opposition, the court may: (1) deny the motion; (2) order a continuance to enable declarations to be obtained, depositions to be taken, or other discovery to be undertaken; or (3) issue any other just order.
Where the motion partly succeeds
Rule 56(d)(1) directs the court to narrow the case. If summary judgment is not rendered on the whole action, the court "shall, to the extent practicable, determine what material facts are not genuinely at issue," doing so "by examining the pleadings and evidence before it and by interrogating the attorneys." It then issues an order specifying those facts, and:
The facts so specified must be treated as established in the action.
Rule 56(d)(2) allows the liability-only judgment: "An interlocutory summary judgment may be rendered on liability alone, even if there is a genuine issue on the amount of damages."
Bad-faith declarations
Rule 56(g) makes the fee award mandatory:
If satisfied that a declaration under this rule is submitted in bad faith or solely for delay, the court must order the submitting party to pay the other party the reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, it incurred as a result. An offending party or attorney may also be held in contempt.
"Must order" — the same construction Montana uses, and stronger than the discretionary "may order" in Vermont and West Virginia.