A CPLR 3213 motion for summary judgment is a procedural mechanism that allows a party to make a motion for summary judgment before even filing a complaint in actions based upon "an instrument for the payment of money only or a judgment."

A motion for summary judgment in lieu of a complaint, as the CPLR 3213 motion is often referred, provides a quick avenue for relief, melding pleadings and motion practice into one step. Indeed, the purpose of a CPLR 3213 motion is to provide prompt relief on claims so presumptively meritorious that "a formal complaint is superfluous, and even the delay incident upon waiting for an answer and then moving for summary judgment is needless." (1st Prelim Report of Advisory Comm. on Practice and Procedure, 1957 N.Y. Legis. Doc No. 6[b], at 91).

Practitioners must be mindful, however, of the motion's strict procedural requirements, as discussed below.