Trial Judge's Discretionary Dec's, Appeal, Res Judicata & Collateral Estoppel

Trial Judge's Discretions

  1. Trial w/o Jury (3/18)
    1. No Rt. 2 Trial w/o Jury
    2. Dif. from Jury Trial
      1. Faster b/c no jury charge / instruction
      2. More evid. let in b/c judge not as prejud.'al as jury
      3. Series of findings of fact & concl's of law by Rule 52 instead of jury verdict
      4. Ez'er appeal than jury's verdict
    3. Day v. Rosenthal (p. 868 3/18)
      1. Judge need 2 do findings of only ultimate facts
      2. Judge is fact finder so can ignore any evid.
  2. Jgmt as Matter of Law & Renewed Motion 4 JMOL: Rule 50
    1. Burdens (3/18)
      1. Gen'ly P has both burdens of production & proof
      2. Burden of producing evid.
        1. Present suff. evid. 4 jury / jury could rsbly find that element exists
        2. Judge dec's whether met this burden
        3. If judge finds not met this, then can grant jgmt as matter of law
      3. Burden of persuasion
        1. Gen'ly prepond. of evid. / more likely than not stand. (51%)
        2. If party w/burden loses if jury dec's both side =
        3. Jury dec's
      4. Burdine Case (p. 824 3/18) & Hicks (p. 387 supp. 3/18)
        1. Burdens from P, D, then P w/ultimate proof burden
    2. Compare 2 Sum Jgmt (4/1)
      1. Rule 56, 50)a, 50)b all have same stand.: grant when no legally suff. evid. 4 jury 2 dec. / no material fact
      2. Sum jgmt is pre-trial motion based on written doc. v. JMOL after live W
    3. Rule 50)a
      1. Motion must B made before submission of case 2 jury
      2. Any X a party has been fully heard on an issue (all evid. in)
      3. No legally suff. evid. basis 4 rsbl jury 2 find 4 that pary (not meet b/prod.)
      4. May grant JMOL
    4. Rule 50)b: Renewed Motion 4 Jgmt After Trial
      1. Must have made JMOL @ close of all evid.
      2. Judge not granted JMOL @ that X
      3. Then, after submit 2 jury, judge could later dec. legal quest's raised by motion
      4. Renew motion in 10 days after jury verdict
      5. Reexamination cl. of 7th (4/1) so renew but not 4 states
      6. Rsns 4 not granting earlier JMOL: if judge rt, build on jury's verdict (4/1)
    5. Penn. RR Co. v. Chamberlain (p. 878 3/21)
      1. Granted Jgmt as Matter of Law 4 D
      2. Use of Circ'al Evid.
        1. Not meet b/prod. b/c no rational jury could concl. 4 P when evid. unbelievable b/c phys'ly impossible
        2. When inconsistent inference so neither side est.'ed firmly, then jgmt against party w/B/P
        3. Credible dir. evid. is stronger than inferences from circ'al evid.
    6. Lavender v. Kurn (p. 885 3/21)
      1. Denied JMOL 4 D by Sup Ct
  3. New Trial
    1. Rule 59
      1. Motion made 10 days after entry of jgmt
      2. Granted @ end of trial
    2. Basis
      1. Proced.'al error if it was subst'l / prejud'al
        1. Adm. / excl. of evid.
        2. Inconsistent spec. verdicts (Conway)
        3. Improper jury instruction
      2. Unfair surprise(Conway w/new W)
      3. Verdict contrary 2 great wt. of evid.
      4. Excessive / inadeq. verdict
        1. 7th Amend. reexam. cl. prob.
      5. Newly discov'ed evid.
        1. Must B something that U couldn't access before in trial (4/11)
        2. Strong likelihood that will affect the case
        3. Ope Shipping v. Underwriters (p. 906 4/11) winning party actively concealed the evid. in trial
      6. Jury miscond.
        1. Jurors can't impeach own verdict & can't testify 2 anything in course of delib. (Multiflex p. 909 4/11)
        2. Jurors can testify whether extraneous prejud.'al info was brought 2 jury's attn. / outside influence
        3. Spec. punish. on D
        4. Improper quotient if before delib. verdict, add up & div.
      7. Atty miscond.
    3. Stand. 2 Grant New Trial by Trial Ct.
      1. Great wt. of evid. / shocks the conscience
      2. Not enough 4 judge 2 disagree w/jury
    4. Stand. of Rev. by Appellate Ct.
      1. Abuse of discretion 4 grant / denial (Gasperini 4/8 p. 389 supp)
      2. If any way 2 justify judge's axn, can't overturn
    5. Conway v. Chem. Leaman Tank Lines Inc. (p. 897 4/1)
      1. Can't imm'ly appeal granting of motion 4 new trial
      2. Can grant new trial based on unresolved pending issue
    6. Remittitur & Additur
      1. In fed., remittitur Const'al -ordering new trial unless agree 2 'er award
      2. Additur unConst'al - ordering new trial unless agree 2 'er award
      3. Additur ok in CA state cts
  4. JMOL & New Trial Motions: Rule 50)c & d (4/11)
    1. Making Post-Trial Motions Together
      1. Within 10 days after verdict
    2. Rule 50)d: Denying JMOL
      1. JMOL denied & new trial granted, then can't appeal
      2. JMOL denied & new trial denied, then can appeal raising both issues @ once
    3. Rule 50)c: Grant JMOL
      1. Grant JMOL & new trial granted conditionally, then can appeal JMOL b/c not affect finality; if jgmt rev'ed on appeal, then go on w/new trial
      2. Grant JMOL & new trial denied conditionally, can appeal both
    4. Neely v. Martin K. Eby Construction Co. (p. 912 4/11)
      1. Denied JMOL & Denied New Trial
        1. Appellate rev'ed so verdict rev'ed & no new trial 4 P
        2. Party that wins in jury verdict, JMOL, & new trial motion should move 4 new trial in case appellate rev's verdict @ trial level otherwise, waived motion 2 make new trial motion
  5. Rule 60)b: Relief From Jgmt / Order
    1. Hard & Rare 2 Get: More So Than New Trial

Appeal (4/15)

  1. Pre-req's 2 Appeal
    1. Final Jgmt Disposing All Claims Except
      1. Rule 54)b
        1. More than 1 claim / party in case
        2. Trial ct. may dir. entry of jgmt 4 less than all the claims in case
        3. Trial ct. expressly det. no just rsn 4 delay & expressly dir. 4 entry of jgmt
        4. Then certified as final
      2. Section 1292)a
        1. Prelim. injunctions
      3. Section 1292)b: Interlocutory Appeal
        1. Trial ct. can certify controlling quest. of law where there's subst'l ground 4 dif. of opinion +
        2. Imm. appeal would advance term. of case
        3. Then appellate ct. in its discretion may take certif.
        4. Ex's R subj. matter jxn / preemption
      4. Collateral Order Doc. (Cohen v. Beneficial Ind'al Loan Corp. (p. 951))
        1. Interloc. rev. when dec. finally det's claims of rts. sep. from axn
        2. It's 2 imp. & 2 indep. 2 not rev. in interloc.
        3. Rare
        4. Ex. of immunity
    2. Preservation Reqt: Rule 46
      1. Contemp. obj. 2 errors otherwise waived rt. 2 appeal unless
        1. Didn't have opp. & won't prejud. other party
        2. Plain errors where so blatant no need 4 obj. (not in fed. / CA)
      2. Must cont'ly obj. whenever the pt. arises
      3. Rule 51 specif'ly 4 jury instruction
    3. Error Affects Subst'l Rt.
      1. Rule 61 harmless error is when not affect subst'l rt. / not matter 2 much
      2. McDonough Pwr Equip. v. Greenwood (p. 786 4/15) where juror's presence isn't affecting subst'l rt.
      3. But denial of rt. 2 jury is never harmless
  2. Stand.'s of Rev.
    1. Rule of Law by Trial Ct. (like error of law in jury instruction)
      1. Rev'ed de novo
      2. No deference 2 trial judge's ruling
    2. Findings of Fact (like material fact in sum jgmt)
      1. Clearly erroneous rev. where must do more than disagree w/trial ct.
      2. More deferential rev.
      3. Anderson v. Bessemer (p. 929 4/15)
        1. Appellate can't rev. the basis of fact finding (W v. doc's)
    3. Trial Judge's Discretionary Rulings (sanctions & most motions)
      1. Abuse of discretion stand.
      2. Most deferential stand. where only rev. if trial ct. comes 2 wholly indefensible result

Res Judicata (Claim Precl. ) & Collateral Estoppel (Issue Precl.)

  1. Res Judicata (4/22)
    1. Finality Doc.
    2. Elements
      1. Valid Final Jgmt On the Merits
      2. Abs. Bar 2 Subseq. Axn
      3. Btwn Same Parties
      4. On Same Claim / C/A
    3. Tests 2 Det. Same Claim / C/A (rel. w/scope of pleading)
      1. Smith v. Kirkpatrick (p. 965 4/22)
        1. Legal theories, relief, rts & wrongs
        2. Stand.'s of proof / evid.
        3. Extent of inconsistencies of results
      2. Trxn'al Approach (O'Brien v. City of Syracuse p. 968 4/22)
        1. Possibility / opp. 2 raise before, then should raise it
        2. Part of same fact / trxn / factually rel'ed nexus
    4. Compulsory Joinder in Fed Cts
      1. Bogard v. Cook (p. 971 4/25)
        1. Exception where res judicata won't forfeit rt. 2 pers'al redress
  2. Collateral Estoppel (4/25)
    1. Elements
      1. An issue
      2. Actually fairly litigated & det'ed by a valid & final jgmt
      3. Essential / nec. 2 jgmt / case
      4. Same / dif. claims
    2. Cromwell v. County of Sac (p. 974)
    3. Dif Parties, Dif C/A
    4. Use of Collateral Estoppel 4 Dif. Parties (4/29)
      1. Defensive Collateral Estoppel
        1. D in 2nd suit uses P's loss in 1st suit as defense
      2. Offensive Collateral Estoppel
        1. P in 2nd suit uses D's loss in 1st suit offensively
        2. But P2 can't use offensive collateral estoppel if (Parklane p. 986 4/29)
          1. Could ez'ly have joined /
          2. 4 other rsns the applic. of it would B unfair

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Ms. Haeji Hong

January 15, 1998
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