Read the motion, and if you wish to, write a response to the motion. Generally, other parties have to send you a copy of any motion they file against you in your case. How can I respond to a motion by the other party? Read the Rules: Maryland Rules 1-321, ("Service of pleadings and papers other than original pleadings"), 1-322, ("Filing of pleadings, papers, and other items"), and 2-311 ("Motions") Generally, the court will not decide your motion until the other party has had this chance to respond. If another party is represented by a lawyer, you must deliver or mail that party’s copy to their lawyer.Īfter being served with a motion, another party has a set amount of time, usually 15 days, to file a written response to the motion with the court. You must also serve a copy to the other parties in the case by delivering or mailing the copy of your motion to the other parties. You must file your written motion with the court. Your motion must say what you are asking the court to do. At any other time, you must make your motion in writing. During a hearing or trial, you can make a motion verbally. What should I include in a motion or response?Ī motion is a request asking the court to give an order that the court or another party must do something.Is it possible to change the deadline for a response?.How can I respond to a motion by the other party?.
It should consider adopting the Uniform Law Commission’s model law in its entirety. Maryland’s law also has weak statutory procedures to protect speakers facing weak or frivolous lawsuits. The model is explained in the full report and is available here. The Uniform Law Commission’s model law protects any speech about a matter of public importance in any forum. If Maryland simply expanded the scope of its statute to cover the same kinds of speech recommended by the Uniform Law Commission’s model Act, the overall grade would rise to C+. The fundamental flaw in Maryland’s anti-SLAPP statute is that it covers too little speech. After all, strong statutory procedural protections are of no help to a speaker if the scope of the statute excludes the speech at issue. The most important part of anti-SLAPP law is the scope of speech that the statute covers. Unlike many anti-SLAPP statutes, the Maryland statute does not shift the burden of proof on an anti-SLAPP motion to the respondent at any point furthermore, the statute contains no provisions for interlocutory appeal of an anti-SLAPP motion order or for shifting of costs and attorney fees to the prevailing party. The defendant may also move to dismiss the suit, in which case the court must hold a hearing on the matter as soon as practicable. However, this brief and unusually worded statute also limits the scope of speech it covers: it defines a SLAPP suit in part as one that is “rought in bad faith” and “ntended to inhibit or inhibits the exercise of rights under the First Amendment.” A defendant facing a SLAPP suit may move to stay all court proceedings until the matter is resolved notably, this option supplies a considerably weaker tool than many other anti-SLAPP statutes, which provide for mandatory suspension of proceedings. Maryland’s anti-SLAPP statute protects communications with a government body or to the public on any matter within the authority of government or on any issue of public concern.