Once discovery is completed, and sometimes while it is ongoing, the parties may seek to end the case without a trial by negotiating a Settlement or by filing a “Motion for Summary Judgment.”

Settlement

At any time during a civil proceeding, the parties can enter into an agreement that settles or resolves the dispute.  The parties can settle the case on their own, may try and settle their case through mediation and may request that the court order the parties to participate in a settlement conference that will be presided over by a judge. 

The settlement is generally either reduced to a written agreement or may take the form of a written order that the parties submit to the Judge to sign. 

Motion for Summary Judgment

Either party may file a Motion for Summary Judgment which requests that the court rule in their favor.  In deciding whether or not to grant a Motion for Summary Judgment, the court will review the pleadings, affidavits, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file and will grant the moving party relief if there is no genuine dispute over material facts (meaning that the judge can make a decision without seeing live witnesses or conducting an evidentiary hearing) and it appears that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See NRCP and JCRCP 56(c).