Many Iawsuits are characterized by either minor or non-existent disputes over relevant facts, and such cases may be appropriately resolved by a more summary process than a full-blovvn jury trial. In recognition of this phenomenon, courts and administrators have attempted, since at least the eighteenth century, to fashion procedures that expedite civil litigation. Default judgments, judgments on the pleadings, summary judgments and directed verdicts allow courts to enter judgments at various points during the course of the proceedings prior to submitting the case to the jury. The most recent of these procedural devices to achieve trans-substantive application is summary judgment.