Wyoming summary judgment: Rule 56.1 is a separate rule, and pinpoint citations are mandatory
Wyoming procedure · Last verified August 17, 2026
Wyoming took the post-2010 federal Rule 56 almost word for word, then did something the federal rules do not: it put the statement of material facts in a separate rule of its own, Rule 56.1. Practitioners who work from Rule 56 alone miss it, and it applies to both sides.
Rule 56 sets no briefing deadlines
This is the first thing to understand about Wyoming practice. Rule 56(b) says only:
Unless a different time is set by court order otherwise, a party may file a motion for summary judgment at any time.
There is no response deadline and no reply deadline anywhere in Rule 56. Rule 78, which governs hearing motions, supplies none either — it says a court "may establish regular times and places for oral hearings on motions" and "may provide for submitting or deciding motions on briefs, without oral hearings."
So in Wyoming the schedule comes from the court: the scheduling order, the district court's own rules, or an order on the particular motion. Do not assume a number carried over from another state. Check the order governing your case before you calendar anything, and if there is no order, ask.
Compare Montana, where Rule 56(c)(1) supplies 21 days to respond and 14 to reply on the face of the rule, or Vermont, where Rule 56(b) gives 30 and 14.
The standard, and a direction to the judge
Rule 56(a) carries the modern formulation:
A party may move for summary judgment, identifying each claim or defense — or the part of each claim or defense — on which summary judgment is sought. The court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The court should state on the record the reasons for granting or denying the motion.
"Identifying each claim or defense — or the part of each claim or defense" is worth taking literally. A motion that asks for judgment on "the complaint" without breaking out the claims gives the court nothing to grant in part.
Rule 56.1: the separate statement
This is the Wyoming-specific requirement, and it is short enough to read in full.
From the moving party — Rule 56.1(a):
Upon any motion for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, in addition to the materials supporting the motion, there shall be annexed to the motion a separate, short and concise statement of the material facts as to which the moving party contends there is no genuine issue to be tried.
From the party opposing — Rule 56.1(b):
In addition to the materials opposing a motion for summary judgment, there shall be annexed a separate, short and concise statement of material facts as to which it is contended that there exists a genuine issue to be tried.
And from both — Rule 56.1(c):
Such statements shall include pinpoint citations to the specific portions of the record and materials relied upon in support of the parties' position.
Three points follow. The statement is annexed, not folded into the brief. It is required of the opposing party as well as the movant. And "pinpoint" means the page or paragraph — a citation to an entire deposition or exhibit does not satisfy Rule 56.1(c).
Unlike Maine, Wyoming does not say in terms that an uncontroverted fact is deemed admitted. What it does say is in Rule 56(e), below.
Supporting and disputing a fact
Rule 56(c)(1) sets out the two ways to carry the burden on any particular fact:
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, documents, electronically stored information, affidavits or declarations, stipulations (including those made for purposes of the motion only), admissions, interrogatory answers, 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.
Route (B) is the one that is often forgotten. You can defeat an assertion by showing the opponent's own cited materials do not do the work, without producing contrary evidence of your own.
Rule 56(c)(2) preserves the admissibility objection — "A party may object that the material cited to support or dispute a fact cannot be presented in a form that would be admissible in evidence" — and Rule 56(c)(4) requires that an affidavit or declaration "be made on personal knowledge, set out facts that would be admissible in evidence, and show that the affiant or declarant is competent to testify on the matters stated."
On how far the judge will look, Rule 56(c)(3) is permissive:
The court need consider only the cited materials, but it may consider other materials in the record.
What happens when a fact is not properly addressed
Rule 56(e) is the consequence provision, and it gives the court four options rather than one:
If a party fails to properly support an assertion of fact or fails to properly address another party's assertion of fact as required by Rule 56(c), the court may: (1) give an opportunity to properly support or address the fact; (2) consider the fact undisputed for purposes of the motion; (3) grant summary judgment if the motion and supporting materials — including the facts considered undisputed — show that the movant is entitled to it; or (4) issue any other appropriate order.
That is where an inadequate Rule 56.1 statement bites: a fact you failed to address properly can be treated as undisputed, and judgment can follow from it.
If you are not ready
Rule 56(d) is the continuance route, available on affidavit or declaration:
If a nonmovant shows by affidavit or declaration that, for specified reasons, it cannot present facts essential to justify its opposition, the court may: (1) defer considering the motion or deny it; (2) allow time to obtain affidavits or declarations or to take discovery; or (3) issue any other appropriate order.
The court can go further than the motion
Rule 56(f) permits judgment nobody moved for, on notice:
After giving notice and a reasonable time to respond, the court may: (1) grant summary judgment for a nonmovant; (2) grant the motion on grounds not raised by a party; or (3) consider summary judgment on its own after identifying for the parties material facts that may not be genuinely in dispute.
And where the motion succeeds only in part, Rule 56(g) lets the court enter an order "stating any material fact — including an item of damages or other relief — that is not genuinely in dispute and treating the fact as established in the case."
Bad-faith affidavits
Rule 56(h) supplies the sanction, on notice and with a chance to respond. If satisfied that an affidavit or declaration "is submitted in bad faith or solely for delay," the court "may order the submitting party to pay the other party the reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, it incurred as a result," and "[a]n offending party or attorney may also be held in contempt or subjected to other appropriate sanctions."