Summary Judgment SMF Frameworks Across Federal Districts

When you file or oppose summary judgment in federal court, the local rules tell you what kind of statement of material facts (SMF) you must produce. Most districts have a uniform framework: a separate, numbered statement, paragraph-by-paragraph response, and a deemed-admitted rule for unanswered or uncited paragraphs. A small number of districts have no district-wide SMF framework, leaving the format to individual judges.

Where to find the rule

The local rule on summary judgment (typically Rule 56 or 56.1) sets out the SMF requirements. If the rule is thin or silent, the assigned judge's standing order will specify.

District 56.1 framework

The local rule prescribes the SMF format uniformly across the district. The standard structure has three components: a separate statement by the movant, a paragraph-by-paragraph response by the opponent, and a deemed-admitted rule.

The procedure (movant):

1. File a separate Statement of Undisputed Facts (or 'Statement of Material Facts') as its own document.
2. Each fact is in a numbered paragraph.
3. Each numbered paragraph cites pinpoint to admissible evidence (record, deposition page and line, exhibit and page).

The procedure (opponent):

1. File a paragraph-by-paragraph response that mirrors the movant's numbered paragraphs.
2. For each numbered paragraph, admit, dispute, or admit-in-part.
3. If disputing, cite to admissible evidence supporting the dispute.
4. Some districts also allow or require additional facts to be stated as a separate statement appended to the response.

The deemed-admitted rule: A movant's numbered paragraph that is not specifically controverted with admissible-evidence citations is deemed admitted for purposes of the motion. This is often the procedural mechanism that decides summary judgment in these districts.

Districts using a district 56.1 framework:

The deemed-admitted rule applies in essentially every district with a 56.1 framework. The paragraph caps and page-limit specifics vary; read the local rule before drafting.

Judge-by-judge SMF

The local rules do not specify a district-wide SMF framework. The assigned judge sets her own SMF requirements (or none) in standing orders or individual procedures.

The procedure:

1. Check the assigned judge's standing order for SMF requirements.
2. If the standing order specifies a format, follow it.
3. If the standing order is silent, draft the motion under FRCP 56 directly, with a fact section in the brief itself rather than a separate statement.

Districts using judge-by-judge SMF:

• S.D. Tex. The local rules do not prescribe a district-wide SMF framework. Some judges require a separate statement; some do not. The assigned judge's procedures are dispositive.
• E.D. Pa. The Local Civil Rules contain a Rule 56.1 that addresses warrant-of-attorney judgments — a different topic from the FRCP 56 SMF framework. The Local Civil Rules do not prescribe an SMF format for ordinary summary judgment motions; individual judges fill the gap.

What this rule is trying to accomplish

The 56.1-style framework exists because summary judgment motions can produce hundreds of pages of factual material across briefs, declarations, and exhibits. Without a separate, numbered statement of facts that the parties have controverted point by point, the court would have to reconstruct what is actually disputed from prose. The deemed-admitted rule is the enforcement mechanism: facts that are not specifically controverted with admissible-evidence citations are treated as established.

The practical consequence is that, in a district 56.1 framework, the SMF is the operative document for the factual record on the motion — more so than the brief itself. A movant whose numbered paragraphs are not specifically controverted wins those facts regardless of what the opposition brief argues. Counsel coming from a judge-by-judge district sometimes treats the SMF as supporting paperwork drafted after the brief; in a 56.1 framework, the SMF should be drafted first, with care, and the brief drafted to the SMF.

The rule is asking counsel to do the factual work in numbered-paragraph form, with citations, before the legal argument begins. Briefs that argue facts not in the SMF, or that argue the SMF as if it were supporting paperwork, tend to produce summary judgment outcomes counsel did not expect.