Judgment as a matter of law: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Latest revision as of 16:33, 22 April 2023

In the United States courts, a motion for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) is a motion made by a party, during trial, claiming the opposing party has insufficient evidence to reasonably support its case.^[1] It asserts that the evidence allows only one result: victory for the moving party, even if a jury has found otherwise.^[2] JMOL is also known as a directed verdict, which it has replaced in American federal courts.^[3]

JMOL is similar to judgment on the pleadings and summary judgment, all of which test the factual sufficiency of a claim.^[4] Judgment on the pleadings is a motion made after pleading and before discovery; summary judgment happens after discovery and before trial; JMOL occurs during trial.^[5]

In United States federal courts, JMOL is a creation of Rule 50 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.^[6]^[7] JMOL is decided by the standard of whether a reasonable jury could find in favor of the party opposing the JMOL motion.^[8] If there is no evidence to support a reasonable conclusion for the opposing party, judgment is entered by the court and the case is over.^[9] If there is sufficient evidence to make a reasonable conclusion in favor of the opposing party, but there is equally strong evidence to support an opposite conclusion, the party with the burden of persuasion fails.^[10]

Timing is very important in making a motion for JMOL; the motion can be made only after the opposing party has presented its case.^[11] In civil cases, the plaintiff presents its case, the defendant presents its case, and the plaintiff may present a rebuttal. Therefore, once the plaintiff has presented its case, the defendant but not the plaintiff can move for JMOL. However, once the defendant has finished presenting its case, both the plaintiff and the defendant can move for JMOL.

JMOL motions may also be made after the verdict is returned and are then called "renewed" motions for judgment as a matter of law (RJMOL), but the motion is still commonly known by its former name, judgment notwithstanding the verdict, or JNOV (from the English judgment and the Latin non obstante veredicto).

References

^ "motion for judgment as a matter of law". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
^ Fundamentals of Litig. Prac. § 32:3 (2021) (updated 2022).
^ Fundamentals of Litig. Prac. § 32:3 (2021) (updated 2022).
^ "What is the difference between judgment as a matter of law and summary judgment? | uslawessentials". uslawessentials.com. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
^ "What is the difference between judgment as a matter of law and summary judgment? | uslawessentials". uslawessentials.com. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
^ "Federal Rules of Civil Procedure" (PDF). 1 December 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
^ "Rule 50. Judgment as a Matter of Law in a Jury Trial; Related Motion for a New Trial; Conditional Ruling". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
^ Fundamentals of Litig. Prac. § 32:5 (2021) (updated 2022).
^ Fundamentals of Litig. Prac. § 32:5 (2021) (updated 2022).
^ Fundamentals of Litig. Prac. § 32:5 (2021) (updated 2022).
^ "What is the difference between judgment as a matter of law and summary judgment? | uslawessentials". uslawessentials.com. Retrieved 14 April 2023.

[1] "motion for judgment as a matter of law". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 14 April 2023.

[2] Fundamentals of Litig. Prac. § 32:3 (2021) (updated 2022).

[3] Fundamentals of Litig. Prac. § 32:3 (2021) (updated 2022).

[4] "What is the difference between judgment as a matter of law and summary judgment? | uslawessentials". uslawessentials.com. Retrieved 14 April 2023.

[5] "What is the difference between judgment as a matter of law and summary judgment? | uslawessentials". uslawessentials.com. Retrieved 14 April 2023.

[6] "Federal Rules of Civil Procedure" (PDF). 1 December 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2020.

[7] "Rule 50. Judgment as a Matter of Law in a Jury Trial; Related Motion for a New Trial; Conditional Ruling". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 14 April 2023.

[8] Fundamentals of Litig. Prac. § 32:5 (2021) (updated 2022).

[9] Fundamentals of Litig. Prac. § 32:5 (2021) (updated 2022).

[10] Fundamentals of Litig. Prac. § 32:5 (2021) (updated 2022).

[11] "What is the difference between judgment as a matter of law and summary judgment? | uslawessentials". uslawessentials.com. Retrieved 14 April 2023.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|United States legal practise}}
-{{Merge|Directed verdict|date=May 2008}}
+{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
+{{Use American English|date=April 2023}}
+{{Redirect|JMOL|the chemistry software|Jmol}}
+{{More references|date=May 2018}}
 {{Civil procedure (United States)}}
-'''Judgment as a matter of law''' ('''JMOL''') is a motion made by a party, during trial, claiming the opposing party has insufficient evidence to reasonably support its case.  JMOL is similar to [[summary judgment]], which is a [[motion (legal)|motion]] made ''before'' trial.  JMOL is also known as a [[directed verdict]], which it has replaced in American Federal courts.
+In the United States courts, a motion for '''judgment as a matter of law''' ('''JMOL''') is a [[Motion (legal)|motion]] made by a party, during trial, claiming the opposing party has [[insufficient evidence]] to reasonably support its case.<ref>{{Cite web |title=motion for judgment as a matter of law |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/motion_for_judgment_as_a_matter_of_law |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=LII / Legal Information Institute |language=en}}</ref> It asserts that the evidence allows only one result: victory for the moving party, even if a jury has found otherwise.<ref>Fundamentals of Litig. Prac. § 32:3 (2021) (updated 2022).</ref> JMOL is also known as a [[directed verdict]], which it has replaced in [[Federal judiciary of the United States|American federal courts]].<ref>Fundamentals of Litig. Prac. § 32:3 (2021) (updated 2022).</ref>
-In [[United States federal courts]], JMOL is a creation of [[Federal Rules of Civil Procedure]] Rule 50.  JMOL is decided by the standard of whether a reasonable jury could find in favor of the party opposing the JMOL motion.  If there is no evidence to support a reasonable conclusion for the opposing party, judgment is entered by the court and the case is over.  If there is sufficient evidence to make a reasonable conclusion in favor of the opposing party, but there is equally strong evidence to support an opposite conclusion, the party with the [[burden of persuasion]] fails.
+JMOL is similar to [[judgment on the pleadings]] and [[summary judgment]], all of which test the factual sufficiency of a [[Claim (law)|claim]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is the difference between judgment as a matter of law and summary judgment? {{!}} uslawessentials |url=https://uslawessentials.com/difference-judgment-matter-law-summary-judgment/ |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=uslawessentials.com}}</ref>  Judgment on the pleadings is a motion made after [[Pleading (United States)|pleading]] and before [[discovery (law)|discovery]]; summary judgment happens after discovery and before trial; JMOL occurs during trial.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is the difference between judgment as a matter of law and summary judgment? {{!}} uslawessentials |url=https://uslawessentials.com/difference-judgment-matter-law-summary-judgment/ |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=uslawessentials.com}}</ref>
-Timing is very important in making a motion for JMOL; the motion can only be made once the opposing party has presented its case.  In civil cases, the [[plaintiff]] presents her case, then the [[defendant]] presents his/her case, then the plaintiff may present a [[rebuttal]]. So, once the plaintiff has presented his/her case, the defendant may move for JMOL, but the plaintiff may not.  Once the defendant has finished presenting his/her case, the plaintiff may move for JMOL, and so may the defendant.
+In [[United States federal courts]], JMOL is a creation of Rule 50 of the [[Federal Rules of Civil Procedure]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/cv_rules_eff._dec._1_2018_0.pdf|title=Federal Rules of Civil Procedure|date=December 1, 2018|access-date=March 7, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rule 50. Judgment as a Matter of Law in a Jury Trial; Related Motion for a New Trial; Conditional Ruling |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_50 |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=LII / Legal Information Institute |language=en}}</ref> JMOL is decided by the standard of whether a reasonable jury could find in favor of the party opposing the JMOL motion.<ref>Fundamentals of Litig. Prac. § 32:5 (2021) (updated 2022).</ref> If there is no evidence to support a reasonable conclusion for the opposing party, judgment is entered by the court and the case is over.<ref>Fundamentals of Litig. Prac. § 32:5 (2021) (updated 2022).</ref> If there is sufficient evidence to make a reasonable conclusion in favor of the opposing party, but there is equally strong evidence to support an opposite conclusion, the party with the [[legal burden of proof|burden of persuasion]] fails.<ref>Fundamentals of Litig. Prac. § 32:5 (2021) (updated 2022).</ref>
-JMOL motions may also be made after the verdict is returned, where they are called "renewed" motions for judgment as a matter of law (RJMOL), but the motion is still commonly known by its former name, [[judgment notwithstanding verdict]], or j.n.o.v. (from the [[English language|English]] [[Judgment (law)|judgment]] and the [[Latin]] ''non obstante verdicto''). However, in order to move for j.n.o.v., the movant must have moved for a JMOL ''before'' the verdict as well.  This procedural quirk is necessary because it is considered a violation of the [[Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution|7th amendment]] for a judge to overturn a jury verdict.  Instead, the judge is said in a j.n.o.v. to be reexamining not the verdict, but his previous rejection of JMOL.
+Timing is very important in making a motion for JMOL; the motion can be made only after the opposing party has presented its case.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is the difference between judgment as a matter of law and summary judgment? {{!}} uslawessentials |url=https://uslawessentials.com/difference-judgment-matter-law-summary-judgment/ |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=uslawessentials.com}}</ref> In civil cases, the [[plaintiff]] presents its case, the [[defendant]] presents its case, and the plaintiff may present a [[rebuttal]]. Therefore, once the plaintiff has presented its case, the defendant but not the plaintiff can move for JMOL. However, once the defendant has finished presenting its case, both the plaintiff and the defendant can move for JMOL.
-== See also ==
+JMOL motions may also be made after the verdict is returned and are then called "renewed" motions for judgment as a matter of law (RJMOL), but the motion is still commonly known by its former name, [[judgment notwithstanding the verdict]], or JNOV (from the [[English language|English]] [[Judgment (law)|judgment]] and the [[Latin]] ''non obstante veredicto'').
-*[[renewed judgment as a matter of law]]
-*[[new trial]]
-*[[summary judgment]]
-*[[judgment notwithstanding the verdict]]
+==See also==
-[[Category:Civil procedure]]
+*[[Judgment notwithstanding the verdict]]
-[[Category:Articles lacking sources (Erik9bot)]]
+*[[New trial]]
+*[[No case to answer]]
+*[[Renewed judgment as a matter of law]]
+*[[Summary judgment]]
+==References==
+{{Reflist}}
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Judgment As A Matter Of Law}}
+[[Category:United States civil procedure]]
 [[Category:Judgment (law)|Matter of law]]
+[[Category:American legal terminology]]