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HEARINGS
Based on the documented facts and controlling Washington law, IBA has
concluded that IC has a very strong case for winning on summary judgment. IC’s
2013 Motion for Summary Judgment was well-written and persuasive. Island
County was forced to file its motion prematurely as a defense against
Montgomery’s precipitous, multiple, untimely motions. The judge denied
Montgomery’s motions to dismiss and all defensive motions. The rulings were
procedural (too early) rather than substantive (you are wrong).
Instead, the judge said he chose not to rule because discovery had not even
started. There were many issues of fact on both sides of the case that the judge
could not rule in favor of anyone
During the hearing, there was one item the judge found helpful, which was Island
County’s colored Topographic Survey of Wonn Road, which I copied for my exhibit
today. The judge commented on Island County’s Motion, noting that it included
just the uplands, saying, “that’s just from the upland to the high tide line. He
asked how large a piece it was. Montgomery answered, “40 feet X 80 feet.”
Judge Rickert said, “it is small but significant.”
Although IC’s Motion was not granted in 2013, it is now RIPE for re-submission to
the Court without a lot of additional work. Most of the discovery, fact checking, and
legal research has been done. The evidence and law supporting IC’s ownership of
the uplands at Wonn Road is so compelling that the matter can be settled without
a trial. I believe the judge has shown favor toward that happening.
LAW OF SUMMARY JUDGMENT
To win on Summary Judgment the moving party must demonstrate 2 things:
1 There must be no material facts in dispute.
2 The moving party must be entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
1 There must be no material facts in dispute.
27.1There are plenty of facts in this case. There are manufactured
facts, irrelevant facts, trivial facts, distracting facts, disputed facts and
outright misrepresentations of facts. But there are no MATERIAL facts
that can be disputed.
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