U.S. Supreme Court Holds Failure To Renew Rule 50(a) Motion Waives Appeal

Parties to a federal jury trial may attempt to avoid having the jury decide particular issues pursuant to Rule 50. Under Rule 50(a), a party may file a motion for judgment on particular issues as a matter of law after the close of the evidence. If the court denies the motion and the issues proceed to jury verdict, the party has ten days to renew its motion for judgment as a matter of law under Rule 50(b) and/or to move for a new trial under Rule 59(e).

It turns out that renewing the motion for judgment as a matter of law is the only way to preserve the issue for appeal.

In Unitherm Food Sys., Inc. v. Swift-Eckrich, Inc., No. 04-597 (U.S. Jan. 23, 2006), the U.S. Supreme Court held that if a party fails to renew its motion after the jury reaches its verdict, that party waives the right to appeal the sufficiency of the evidence. The Court cited precedent finding that courts of appeals only have jurisdiction to overturn a jury verdict if the appellant asked the district court to do so first.