Nebraska summary judgment: an Evidence Index, an Annotated Statement, and evidence that must be offered at the hearing
Nebraska procedure · Last verified August 17, 2026
Nebraska is the only state in this family where the summary-judgment scheme lives in two places at once. The substantive provisions are statutes — § 25-1330 onwards — and the filing mechanics are a Supreme Court rule, § 6-1471. Missing the rule is the common failure, and it has a stated consequence.
The statute: thirty days, ten days, and a hearing
Who may move. § 25-1330 sets the claimant's hold:
A party seeking to recover in district court upon a claim, counterclaim, or cross-claim or to obtain a declaratory judgment may, at any time after the expiration of thirty days from the service of process on the opposing party or after service of a motion for summary judgment by the adverse party, move with or without supporting affidavits for a summary judgment in his or her favor upon all or any part thereof.
Thirty days from service of process, not from commencement — a different trigger from Maine's twenty days from commencement or North Dakota's twenty-one.
The schedule. § 25-1332(1) is keyed to the hearing rather than to service:
The motion shall be served at least ten days before the time fixed for the hearing. The adverse party prior to the day of hearing may serve opposing affidavits.
The same hearing-driven structure Rhode Island uses. There is no fixed response deadline in the statute; the outer limit for opposing affidavits is the day before the hearing.
The sentence that makes Nebraska different
Still in § 25-1332(1), and worth reading closely:
The judgment sought shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings and the evidence admitted at the hearing show that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. The evidence that may be received on a motion for summary judgment includes depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions, stipulations, and affidavits.
Most states' rules speak of materials "on file" — depositions and answers to interrogatories already in the record do the work simply by being there. Nebraska speaks of "the evidence admitted at the hearing." The practical consequence is that summary judgment in Nebraska involves actually offering your evidence and having it received, rather than relying on the clerk's file. Prepare the hearing as an evidentiary proceeding, and make sure everything you rely on is offered.
Partial judgment is available: "A summary judgment, interlocutory in character, may be rendered on the issue of liability alone although there is a genuine dispute as to the amount of damages."
Supporting a fact. § 25-1332(2) supplies the two familiar routes:
A party asserting that a fact cannot be or is genuinely disputed must support the assertion by: (a) Citing to particular parts of materials in the record, including depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions, stipulations, affidavits, or other materials; or (b) Showing that the materials cited do not establish the absence or presence of a genuine dispute, or that an adverse party cannot produce admissible evidence to support the fact.
The rule: two documents from each side
§ 6-1471 is where the paperwork is defined, and it applies to both parties.
From the movant — § 6-1471(A). When a motion is filed, the moving party must simultaneously file and serve
(1) an Evidence Index in Support listing all evidence to be offered in support of the motion for summary judgment; and (2) an Annotated Statement of Undisputed Facts setting forth concise, numbered paragraphs reciting each proposed material fact as to which the moving party contends there is no genuine dispute, annotated by pinpoint citation to the supporting evidence in the Evidence Index in Support.
Then the consequence:
Failure to submit such a Statement may constitute grounds for denial of the motion.
From the party opposing — § 6-1471(B). Each opposing party must file and serve
(1) an Evidence Index in Opposition listing all evidence to be offered in opposition to the motion for summary judgment; and (2) an Annotated Statement of Disputed Facts setting forth concise, numbered paragraphs reciting each proposed material fact of the moving party as to which the opposing party contends there is a genuine dispute, annotated by pinpoint citation to the supporting evidence in the Evidence Index in Opposition.
And the mirror-image consequence, which is the more serious of the two:
Failure to submit such a Statement may constitute grounds for sustaining the motion.
Read those two sanctions together. A movant who omits the Statement risks denial; an opponent who omits it risks losing outright. Note also how the Evidence Index and the Annotated Statement interlock — the Statement is "annotated by pinpoint citation to the supporting evidence in the Evidence Index," so the Index is what makes the citations usable, and it lists "all evidence to be offered," which ties back to § 25-1332(1)'s requirement that evidence be admitted at the hearing.
Cross-motions
§ 6-1471(C) removes an ambiguity that arises when both sides move:
For purposes of this rule, where competing motions are filed, a party shall be considered as the moving party regarding a motion or motions asserted by that party and as an opposing party regarding a motion or motions asserted by another party.
So a party on both sides of cross-motions files both sets of documents: an Evidence Index in Support and Annotated Statement of Undisputed Facts for its own motion, and an Evidence Index in Opposition and Annotated Statement of Disputed Facts answering the other.
The judge sets the deadlines
§ 6-1471(D) leaves the timetable to the assigned judge:
The assigned judge is expected to schedule deadlines for compliance with this rule and the summary judgment statutes so as to ensure a fair opportunity for all parties to present their evidence. The judge may, in the judge's discretion, extend any deadline for compliance with any requirement under this rule.
Between the ten-day statutory minimum in § 25-1332(1) and this provision, the operative dates in a Nebraska case come from the scheduling order. Get it, and read it against both the statute and the rule.