Replies to post #3423 on Insmed Inc (INSM)

[mojine]

It's a motion for the judge to render a verdict on that particular issue without presenting it to the jury.

In a federal jury trial, before a verdict, if one "party has been fully heard on an issue and there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to find for that party on the issue, the court may determine the issue against that party and may grant a motion for judgment as a matter of law against that party with respect to a claim or defense that cannot under the controlling law be maintained or defeated without a favorable ruling on that issue.

"Such a motion shall specify the judgment sought and the law and the facts on which the moving party is entitled to the judgment." Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(a)(1) and (2).

A party seeking a judgment as a matter of law after the jury reaches its verdict must have made a Rule 50(a) motion before or at the close of all the evidence.

"If, for any reason, the court does not grant a motion for judgment as a matter of law at the close of all the evidence, the court is considered to have submitted the action to the jury subject to the court's later deciding the legal questions raised by the motion." See Rule 50(b). '

The moving party may renew the motion by filing another motion no later than 10 days after entry of judgment, and may alternatively request a new trial or jointly request a judgment as a matter of law and a new trial.

Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods. Inc., 530 U.S. 133 (2000), clarified the legal standard for a judgment as a matter of law both pre- and post-verdict.

The questions to be answered are whether, prior to the jury verdict, and under Rule 50(a), there is sufficient evidence to submit an issue to the jury; and, after the jury has reached a verdict, and under Rule 50(b), sufficient evidence supports the verdict.

"[T]he standard for granting summary judgment mirrors the standard for judgment as a matter of law," wrote the Reeves court, "such that the inquiry under each is the same. ... n entertaining a motion for judgment as a matter of law, the court should review all evidence in the record. ... [H]owever, the court must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party, and it may not make credibility determinations or weigh the evidence."