Summary Proceeding in the United States

An abbreviated process wherein certain legal questions may be expeditiously resolved. A summary proceeding takes the general form of a trial, but it is brief and conducted under simplified procedural rules. For example, discovery is usually limited and no fact questions go to a jury. A summary judgment may be issued from a summary proceeding.

Analysis and Relevance

A summary proceeding attempts to settle a legal issue promptly and simply. A summary proceeding does not have a single form. The process is summary when it does not contain the same procedural steps as a regular civil trial. Small claims proceedings are generally summary. Often tenant-landlord relations and bankruptcies are handled in summary proceedings as well. The tenant-landlord situation provides a good example. The failure of a tenant to pay rent may automatically terminate a lease. A summary proceeding may yield an eviction order.

Notes and References

Definition of Summary Proceeding from the American Law Dictionary, 1991, California

Summary Proceeding Definition

A form of trial in which the ancient established course of legal proceedings is disregarded, especially in the matter of trial by jury, and, in the case of the heavier crimes, presentment by a grand jury. See 8 Gray (Mass.) 329. In no case can the party be tried summarily unless when such proceedings are authorized by legislative authority, except perhaps in cases of contempts; for the common law is a stranger to such a mode of trial. 4 Bl. Comm. 280. See 2 Kent, Comm. (6th Ed.) 73; 2 Conn. 819; 4 Conn. 535; 37 Me. 172; 4 Hill (N. Y.) 145; 8 Gray (Mass.) 329; 4 Dev. (N. C.) 15; 10 Yerg. (Tenn.) 59.

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Legal Issue for Attorneys

A form of trial in which the ancient established course of legal proceedings is disregarded, especially in the matter of trial by jury, and, in the case of the heavier crimes, presentment by a grand jury. See 8 Gray (Mass.) 329. In no case can the party be tried summarily unless when such proceedings are authorized by legislative authority, except perhaps in cases of contempts; for the common law is a stranger to such a mode of trial. 4 Bl. Comm. 280. See 2 Kent, Comm. (6th Ed.) 73; 2 Conn. 819; 4 Conn. 535; 37 Me. 172; 4 Hill (N. Y.) 145; 8 Gray (Mass.) 329; 4 Dev. (N. C.) 15; 10 Yerg. (Tenn.) 59.

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Notice

This definition of Summary Proceeding Is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This definition needs to be proofread..

Practical Information

Note: Some of this information was last updated in 1982

A form of legal proceedings in which the established procedure is disregarded, especially in the matter of trial by jury. The term is applied to the process by which a landlord may dispossess a tenant instead of having to resort to eviction, which is a long drawn-out proceeding.

(Revised by Ann De Vries)

What is Summary Proceeding?

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Summary Proceeding