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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND SOUTHERN DIVISION JOSEPH L. ELY, * * Plaintiff, * * v. * Civil Action No. AW-08-3104 * SCIENCE APPLICATIONS * INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION, * * Defendant. * * ****************************************************************************** MEMORANDUM OPINION Plaintiff brought this action against Defendant for breach of contract related to the lease of Plaintiff's property. Currently pending before the Court are Defendant's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 23), and Plaintiff's Cross-Motion for Partial Summary Judgment pursuant to Rule 56(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Doc. No. 25). The Court has reviewed the parties' filings with respect to the instant motions, and no hearing is deemed necessary. See Local Rule 105.6 (D. Md. 2008). For the reasons stated more fully below, the court will GRANT Defendant's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and DENY Plaintiff's Cross-Motion for Partial Summary Judgment. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND This case arises out of a dispute over rental payments. Plaintiff Joseph Ely ("Ely") is the general partner of Ely Real Estate Limited Partnership ("ERELP"). In February 1999, under the Original Lease Agreement, Ely leased 5,000 square feet of commercial office space to Applied Ordnance Technology, Inc. ("AOT") at a rate of $5,000 per month. The parties amended the

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lease three times between February 1999 and June 2000, and after the final addendum in June 2000, the total area Ely leased to AOT was 10,000 square feet, at a rate of $10,000 per month. AOT paid the monthly rent of $10,000 through March 2002. In April 2002, AOT began to tender only $5,000 per month, and continued to pay this sum through October 2003. From November 2003 through January 2006, AOT paid $7,200 per month in rent. Despite the fact that Ely believed that AOT had not yet paid the rent in arrears due under the Original Lease Agreement and addenda, the two entities entered into a new lease agreement in February 2006. Six months later, Science Applications International Corporation ("SAIC") acquired AOT. As a result of this merger, SAIC became liable for the existing debts of AOT. On November 19, 2008, Ely filed suit in this Court alleging that Defendant owed $170,600 in rent, $23,000 in late fees, and $19,800 in repair costs. Defendant moved to dismiss the complaint on the ground that relief was barred by the applicable statute of limitations, but the Court denied that motion. (Doc. No. 4.) Now pending before the Court are cross-motions for partial summary judgment. II. STANDARD OF REVIEW Summary judgment is only appropriate if there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c); see Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-25 (1986). In a motion for summary judgment, the moving party discharges its burden by showing an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 325. The court must "draw all justifiable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party, including questions of credibility and of the weight to be accorded to particular evidence." Masson v. New Yorker Magazine, 501 U.S. 496, 520 (1991) (internal

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citations omitted). However, the party who bears the burden of persuasion on a particular claim must present legally sufficient evidence to support each element of his claim. "[A] complete failure of proof concerning an essential element . . . necessarily renders all other facts immaterial." To defeat a motion for summary judgment, the nonmoving party must come forward with affidavits or other similar evidence to show that a genuine issue of material fact exists. See Matsushita Elec. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587 (1986). While the evidence of the nonmoving party is to be believed and all justifiable inferences drawn in his or her favor, a party cannot create a genuine dispute of material fact through mere speculation or compilation of inferences. See Deans v. CSX Transp., Inc., 152 F.3d 326, 330-31 (4th Cir. 1998); Beale v. Hardy, 769 F.2d 213, 214 (4th Cir. 1985). III. ANALYSIS A. Defendant's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment SAIC seeks partial summary judgment on two grounds: (1) that there is no genuine issue of fact as to whether Ely's claims for rent between April 2002 and November 2005 are untimely under the three-year statute of limitations provided by

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