..CIV PRO TWO
PROBLEM FOUR

Plaintiff sues Defendants One, Two, and Three in a federal court. They each deny liability and tender the affirmative defense of "contributory" (i.e., comparative) negligence.

Plaintiff's trial evidence is that the defendant driver (age 16) and his two passengers were all drinking heavily, pursuant to eye-witness testimony. They are named in the Complaint as "D1" (minor driver), "D2" (father) and "D3" (uncle). There is further evidence that the plaintiff can no longer work because of injuries sustained in this accident.

The defendants' evidence was that Defendant One is a minor and was the designated driver for the adult passengers. His father and uncle were admittedly drunk and rowdy. The defense also produced evidence that Plaintiff had consumed several glasses of wine just prior to the accident.

The jury verdict and the parties' timely cross-motions are set forth below, in the following Supplemental File.

Questions:
1. Was there a problem(s) with the jury verdict?
2. How should the court rule on the defendants' motion?
3. How should the court rule on the plaintiff's cross motion?
4. Can the judge "mold" (harmonize) this verdict to cure any defects?
5. What should have happened at the trial stage to avoid all of these problems?

SUPPLEMENTAL FILE

VERDICT

 No. Question to be answered by jury:
Answer
Amount/ %
 1. What was the amount of the plaintiff's total damages proven at trial?  
$100,000.00
 2. Was Defendant One negligent?
 Yes
  
 3. Was Defendant Two negligent?
 Yes
  
 4. Was Defendant Three negligent?
 Yes
  
 5. Was the plaintiff negligent?
 Yes
  
 6. If your answer to #5 was "Yes," was the plaintiff's negligence
a proximate cause ["substantial factor"] of her injuries?
  No
  
 7. What was the percentage of negligence for each party?    
  (a) Defendant One (minor)
D1 
10%
  (b) Defendant Two (father)
 D2
40%
  (c) Defendant Three (uncle)
 D3
40%
  (d) Plaintiff
 P
10%
8. What is your general verdict? We hold for the Plaintiff. $90,000.00.We further hold that D1 should pay $1.00 in damages.

DEFENDANT'S MOTION

Pat Plaintiff

.........v.

D1, D2, and D3

MOTION FOR ALTERNATIVE RELIEF
(pursuant to Fed. Rules Civil Procedure 50 and 59)

The defendants file this post-trial motion seeking the following alternative relief, which is necessitated by the judgment in Pat Plaintiff v. Ds 1-3:

.....(a) a motion for judgment, based on the facts produced at trial [at this point, the Ds restate the facts provided above]; or
.....(b) a new trial, based on:

(i) error in the verdict arrived at by the jury; and that
(ii) the verdict was against the weight of the evidence
[at this point, the Ds restate the facts provided above].

[Signature]
Mary Jones, Esq.
Bar No. 165123
DEWEY, CHEATEM & HOWE
Attorneys at Law

.....PLAINTIFF'S CROSS MOTION

Pat Plaintiff

v.

D1, D2, and D3

MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL
(pursuant to Fed. Rule Civ. Pro. 59)

Pat Plaintiff files this Motion for New Trial. The jury award [see above facts and Verdict form] was a result of passion and prejudice. Thus, the trial judge should grant a new trial pursuant to this motion, unless the defendants agree to pay the total damages which the jury found in the amount of $100,000.00.

[Signature]
Jack Smith, Esq.
Bar No. 12346
BLEEDEM, BLEEDEM & DRAYNE
Attorneys at Law

..FedProb Page