A Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings asks the Court to rule on the case after all the pleadings – the Complaint, Answer, Counterclaims, Cross-claims and Replies have been filed. This is a way to decide a case when all of the parties agree on the basic facts of a case and the only thing for the Court to rule on is a question of law.

In other words, the Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings asks the Court to apply the law to the facts in the case and make a ruling.

Once a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings is filed, the other party has 14 days to file a response, and if you miss that deadline, the Motion will probably be granted. When responses are filed on time, the Court will decide whether to grant the Motion and dismiss the case or deny the Motion.

This content was created by the Ohio State Bar Foundation's 2006 Fellows Class - Keys to the Courtroom Project.