Juge

This case involves the pleading and notice requirements of a summary judgment proceeding, We are presented with the question whether the trial court may grant a motion for summary judgment upon a ground of law not explicitly tendered by the moving party, i.e., a ground of law identified by the trial court rather than by the movant, if application of that law to an undisputed material fact put in issue by the parties’ separate statements of undisputed material facts is dispositive of a cause of action presented by the pleadings.

To answer this question, we first examine the procedural and substantive requirements of California’s summary judgment statute, and conclude that Code of Civil Procedure section 437c requires the party seeking summary judgment to state with specificity in its moving papers each of the grounds of law upon which the party is relying in contending the action has no merit or there is no defense to the action. If the parties’ separate statements of material facts and evidence in support thereof include an undisputed material fact which is dispositive of the action, but the moving party has overlooked the legal significance of that fact and has…