Legal Definitions - M

A to Z Blogging Challenge.  My topic is LEGAL DEFINITIONS EXPLAINED IN PLAIN [AND HOPEFULLY HUMOROUS] ENGLISH.

Mediation – A meeting of the parties of a lawsuit, usually with a neutral third party, where the parties try to resolve the dispute without having a trial. For eviction cases, the landlord generally wants the tenant to move out RIGHT NOW and pay all the back rent RIGHT NOW, and the tenant usually wants to STAY in possession and NOT PAY ANY RENT or move out in 30 days OR MORE and NOT PAY ANY RENT. Most settlements usually result in each party not getting all of what they want.

Meet and confer – Before filing a motion with the court [asking the court to make a decision on a dispute], the parties are usually required to “meet and confer,” or discuss the disagreement and try to come to some sort of resolution without requiring the court to decide the issue for them. For some reason, CA thinks that lawyers representing opposite sides of a dispute can actually agree on something. Sometimes this happens. Most of the time, the court has to slap them around prior to making the decision for them.

Motion for summary judgment – Also called MSJ. A motion requesting the court to grant judgment in favor of the party bringing the motion [moving party], without having a trial. The MSJ includes most or all of the moving party's evidence, and makes a statement that the evidence proves the moving party is entitled to judgment. The opposing party usually files an opposition and includes all of its evidence. The judge then decides whether a trial is necessary. When the plaintiff wins an eviction MSJ, the defendant/tenant/prior owner doesn't get to have his day in court, see letter D previously, which is highly beneficial and much less expensive for the plaintiff, especially if the defendant had demanded a jury trial.