Statement of Uncontroverted Material Facts, Summary Judgment

Summary judgment  procedures are rigid and must be followed. Perhaps the most important part of summary judgment practice is the uncontroverted material facts. This includes both the assertion of the facts and denials. As the Missouri Supreme Court has made clear, facts only come into the summary judgment record via Rule 74.04’s numbered paragraph procedure. Indeed, factual arguments that are “completely disconnected from the numbered paragraph material facts in the summary judgment record” are “analytically useless.” Green v. Fotoohighiam, 606 S.W.3d 113, 120 (Mo. 2020). The Court does not have to look at the entire record. Id. at 118. Instead, it looks only at the numbered paragraphs.

In a similar fashion, denials must closely follow Rule 74.04. Denials must be supported with specific references to evidence supporting the denial. Id. at 117. Failure to file a proper denial results in an admission of the fact. “This procedure is not discretionary; it is mandatory and must be followed.” Margiotta v. Christian Hosp., 315 S.W.3d 342, 344 (Mo. 2010).