What is a Motion to Dismiss?
A Motion to Dismiss is a document filed by one of the parties in the lawsuit that asks the Court to rule that, even if all of the claims are true, the law doesn’t provide any remedy for the party making the claims, and so the lawsuit should be thrown out.

A Motion to Dismiss can be filed for several reasons. For example, the party filing the Motion may say that the case is filed in the wrong court or that a party hasn’t been properly served with documents. Most courts in Ohio give the other party a 14-day deadline to file a response to a Motion to Dismiss. You should check with your local court to make sure it follows the same 14-day deadline. If a response is not filed on time, the Motion will probably be granted. If all parties file their responses on time, the Court can either grant or deny the Motion to Dismiss.

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