Motions for summary judgment deprive parties of their “day in court” and should only be deployed after the facts of a case have been agreed to by the parties—thus they should be considered a drastic remedy, a Manhattan judge said in a ruling for a construction injury case.

But despite the potentially high stakes involved, summary judgment motions have “become perfunctory” in New York courts, wrote Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Frank Nervo, and have become a “waste of judicial resources.”