McConnell v. Southside Independent School District

Despite the discursive plurality opinion, the actual holding in this case is a narrow one. It is that the grounds for a motion for summary judgment must be set out in the motion itself and cannot be supplied by an accompanying brief on which the motion is expressly based. Because the motion in this case does not comport with this rule, the Court reverses the judgment for the movant, even though any error in granting the motion is made entirely harmless by the non-movant’s concession that he was fully apprised of the grounds on which it was based. I disagree with the Court’s rule; it is a…