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I. Introduction
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of three important cases on federal summary judgment. Known as the "trilogy,"1 Matsushita Electric Industries Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp.,2 Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.,3 and Celotex Corp. v. Catrett4 have had a profound impact on federal litigation. Federal courts have cited these three cases more than any other U.S. Supreme Court decisions.5 Collectively, the trilogy is viewed as a "celebration of summary judgment"6 and a mandate for federal courts to embrace the use of summary judgment to dispose of cases before trial. Among the trilogy, Celotex is widely perceived as the most significant. Martin Redish recently wrote "[o]f the three, Celotex most clearly altered well-established summary judgment practice, and in any event, Celotex, far more than the others, decisively opened the eyes of the federal courts to the propriety of summary judgment in certain cases."8
Celotex dealt with the most common summary judgment scenario: when the defendant moves for summary judgment, seeking to win the case without having to endure a potentially costly and risky trial. Celotex'?, immediate impact was to expand the availability of summary judgment as a means for disposing of a plaintiff s claims prior to trial. In particular, Celotex recognized that a defendant could obtain summary judgment not only by putting forth affirmative evidence that the plaintiffs case was meritless, but also by showing that the plaintiff would lack evidence to prove some essential element of her claim.9 Celotex also spoke more generally to how burdens are allocated between the party seeking and the party opposing summary judgment and what materials may be considered in connection with these burdens.10 To this day, Celotex provides the Court's most current instructions on these important questions.
Anniversaries are times for reflection.11 Celotex is a significant decision from both theoretical and practical standpoints. It impacts core questions of procedural fairness,12 the proper roles of judges and juries in the federal system,13 the increasing caseloads of the federal judiciary,14 and distributive justice in the federal court system.15 It also provides the blueprint for the basic mechanics of litigating and adjudicating summary judgment motions.16 Over the past two decades, Celotex has become the subject of sustained academic commentary,17 as well as a vital part of any first-year civil...