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Hartford Insurance Co. v. Manor Inn of Bethesda Inc.6/9/1994
of or against the moving party if the motion and response show that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the party in whose favor judgment is entered is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Maryland Rule 2-501(e) (emphasis added). The predecessor to Rule 2-501, Rule 610 permitted the trial court to render summary judgment for the opposing party "where appropriate ... even though he has not filed a cross-motion for summary judgment." Maryland Rule 610d1. It was to this provision that the cases referred as support for the proposition that a
trial court may enter summary judgment sua sponte. See Lubow, supra, 277 Md. at 51, 351 A.2d at 423; Myers, supra 253 Md. at 290, 252 A.2d at 860; Flournoy, 198 Md. at 57, 81 A.2d at 233.
Rule 2-501, although it requires the filing of a motion, see section (a), by requiring the entry of judgment in favor of or against the moving party, retains the requirement of Rule 610d1. Thus, it is clear that it does not contemplate, as Rule 610d1 did not contemplate, a court's acting entirely on its own motion, that is to say, where none of the parties has moved for summary judgment. That interpretation is consistent with what was intended when the Rules Committee proposed, and this Court adopted, Rule 2-501.
As proposed, reorganization draft rule 2-608(a), which was to become Rule 2-501(e), provided, as relevant:
(a) Entry of Judgment
Upon motion of a party, the court shall enter judgment in favor of the party if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions, and affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
See Minutes, Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, October 16-17, 1981 at 47. The purpose of that sentence was stated clearly in the draft explanatory note:
Section (a) sets forth the standard for the granting of a motion for summary judgment and makes it clear that a motion is in fact necessary. Consequently, a court may not grant summary judgment upon its own initiative.
Id. at 48. The subcommittee was specifically asked and agreed to consider whether the court should be allowed to act on its own motion and when the rule was next presented, it had been amended to also permit entry of judgment against the moving party. It was approved in that form and sent to the style committee. See Minutes, November 20-21, 1982 at 17-19. The only changes subsequently made to the draft rule
were style changes, i.e. leaving the motion requirement in section (a) and treating the entry of judgment in section (e).
The trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Manor Inn against the petitioner sua sponte. As we have seen, the State moved for summary judgment against both the petitioner and Manor Inn. That motion related, however, only to the petitioner's complaint against the State, Manor Inn being involved only because of its cross-claim; it had nothing to do with and, hence, was unrelated to the petitioner's claim against Manor Inn. Indeed, the two claims proceeded on different theories of liability. Therefore, as to the State's motion for summary judgment, judgment could have been entered in favor of both the petitioner and Manor Inn, and against the State, even though neither had filed cross-motions for summary judgment. On the other hand, judgment either for or, against Man
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