Remittitur


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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 ?
69) In TXO, the Court added that the Due Process Clause does not require trial judges to articulate the basis for its denial of a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or a remittitur.
Punitive damages & due process: trying to keep up with the United States Supreme Court after Philip Morris USA v. Williams
1991) (reversed in part because in closing counsel told the jury the court can "order remittitur or cut [their verdict] down.
Avoiding pitfalls in closing arguments
It offered Lloyd the choice of a new trial on damages or a remittitur to $1.
Current decisions. (Decisions)
THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK ORDERED A REMITTITUR IN THE AMOUNT OF 3.
$7.5 million jury verdict: remittitur ordered
Following the High Court's lead, federal district courts and courts of appeals have become measurably more activist in using directed verdicts and summary judgments to prevent tort cases from reaching juries and in using remittitur to reduce jury awards.
The civil jury: 200 years under siege
The court held, inter alia, that the order granting a new trial subject to the plaintiffs' consenting to a remittitur was not an abuse of discretion by the trial judge.
DC: $2.75 Million Verdict for Loss of Finger: Remittitur to $1 Million Upheld on Appeal
27) Furthermore, verdicts are not judgments: the public (and Angell) do not necessarily learn that a trial judge subsequently entered judgment as a matter of law (voiding a plaintiff's verdict), or granted a remittitur (reducing the verdict amount), or granted a new trial (giving the defendant another chance), or was reversed on appeal.
Science on Trial: The Clash of Medical Evidence and the Law in the Breast Implant Case
The district court denied the officers' motion to vacate a jury verdict or for remittitur, and entered judgment, upon the jury verdict, in favor of the prisoner.
Part one: complete case summaries in alphabetical order
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.
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
The committee has continued to labor in an effort to find ways to improve the Proposal for Settlement Rule, as well as creating a rule to address Additur and Remittitur.
Civil procedure rules
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

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