Remittitur
(ree-MEE-tee-toor) - "[it] is surrendered"
This is yet another example of Latin vocabulary which constitutes a significant part of legal terminology in most Western nations. Remittitur has two distinct meanings.
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Most often, it is an order issued by a judge to a jury in civil cases. If a jury awards an amount exceeding that which a plaintiff was seeking, the judge may ask the jury to reduce this amount. Such an order is known as a remittitur. This is usually done in response to a motion by the defense to either reduce an award or dismiss a jury verdict. Corporate-friendly judges may also order remittitur even when the amount of the award was not in excess of that being sought by the plaintiff. The opposite of remittitur is additur, , which was disallowed in the U.S. under Dimick v. Scheidt (293 U.S. 474 [1935]).
While typically it is the defense that asks for remittitur, there was a recent civil case in Louisiana in which the motion for remittitur was actually made by the plaintiff, albeit under pressure from the judge. In this action, a retired FBI agent brought suit against a major pharmaceutical manufacturer claiming that one of their pain-relieving medications had caused him to suffer a heart attack. The jury awarded the plaintiff compensatory damages in the amount of $50 million and punitive damages in $1 million. The judge, believing that the compensatory award was excessive, upheld the punitive judgment but overturned the compensatory damages. The judge then offered the plaintiff a choice between accepting reduced compensatory damages ($600,000) or gothrough a second trial and have the amount of damages determined by a new jury. The plaintiff moved for remittitur, accepting the reduced compensatory award.
Remittitur can also refer to a case that has been brought to a higher court on appeal, but is then remanded (sent back, or returned) to the lower court for reconsideration.