Remittitur

The procedural process by which an excessive verdict of the jury is reduced. If money damages awarded by a jury are grossly excessive as a Matter of Law, the judge may order the plaintiff to remit a portion of the award.

The remedy of remittitur is designed to cure an award of damages that is grossly excessive without the necessity of a new trial or an appeal. In some cases, an award by a jury is so completely out of line with the damages proven in the case that it is Unconscionable.

Ordinarily, however, an award of Punitive Damages will not be upset as excessive in the absence of gross error or prejudice on the part of the jury.

Remittitur frequently occurs when a defendant requests a new trial because he or she regards the verdict for the plaintiff as excessive.

remittitur

n. 1) a judge's order reducing a judgment awarded by a jury when the award exceeds the amount asked for by the plaintiff (person who brought the suit). 2) an appeal's transmittal of a case back to the trial court so that the case can be retried, or an order entered consistent with the appeal's court's decision (such as dismissing the plaintiff's case or awarding costs to the winning party on appeal). (See: remand)

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References in periodicals archive ?

(168) Ultimately, the city filed a motion for remittitur and was required to show that the verdict was "so high as to shock the judicial conscience and constitute a denial of justice." (169)

An empirical reexamination of state statutory compensation for the wrongly convicted

notices of appeal, motions for fee-shifting, remittitur or vacatur of

Opening Pandora's box: analyzing the complexity of U.S. patent litigation

Coach Lines, 15 NY2d 516 [1964], remittitur amended 15 NY2d 852 [1965], cert denied 382 US 815 [1965]; Williams v New York City Tr.

No witness, no evidence, nothing but a theory held sufficient to sustain jury award in pedestrian fatality: Oates v New York City Transit Authority

accepting a remittitur to avoid a serious problem under the Seventh

Punitive damage and attorney fee awards in trade secret cases

(287.) See Nelson, 669 P.2d at 1217 ("The rule that affirms the availability of a cause of action despite uncertainties in the assessment of damages is of course implemented in the context of appropriate jury instructions and the court's power to require remittitur to restrain or reduce arbitrary or excessive jury verdicts.").

The questionable constitutionality of curtailing cuckolding: 'alienation of affection' and 'criminal conversation' torts

(7) Only judges are empowered to reduce excessive verdicts, termed a remittitur. Thus, a statutory damage cap amounted to a "legislative remittitur" that invaded the power of the judiciary and violated the constitutional requirement of separation of powers.

Caps on malpractice damages

(denying the general contractor's motions for new trial or a remittitur of the jury's verdict, which led to the filing of an appeal).

Mixed transactions for goods and services: the need for consistency in choosing the governing law

(28) As in special verdicts, hybrid verdicts "probably minimize the risk of judgments notwithstanding the verdict, retrial, or remittitur in lieu of a new trial." (29) And as in general verdicts, hybrid verdicts require jurors to render a general legal conclusion, thus reserving for them the power of jury nullification.

Jury voting paradoxes

the plaintiff has the full benefit of that right free from the reach of hostile legislation." (26) Because section 538.210's cap on a jury's award of non-economic damages "operates wholly independent of the facts of the case," it "directly curtails the jury's determination of damages and, as a result, necessarily infringes on the right to trial by jury when applied to a cause of action to which the right to jury trial attaches at common law." (27) Since Missouri's common law in 1820 "did not provide for legislative limits on the jury's assessment of civil damages, Missouri citizens retain their individual right to trial by jury subject only to judicial remittitur based on the evidence in the case." (28)

Avoiding the appearance of impropriety: Missouri and Kansas Supreme Court decisions on the constitutionality of caps on noneconomic damages demonstrate the need for objective procedures in the selection of special judges

"The MTA also appeals from the district court's denial of its Rule 59(e) motion for remittitur. ...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: May 22, 2014

remittitur or a post-verdict settlement rather than the amount set by

An exploration of "noneconomic" damages in civil jury awards

jury verdicts and gave appellate courts the power to order a remittitur

The applicability of state appeal bond caps in suits brought in federal courts pursuant to diversity jurisdiction

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