Ninth Circuit Holds that Plaintiff is Entitled to New Trial after Premature Grant of JMOL

Per U.S. Law Week, December 18, 2007 (76 USLW 1356, 2007):

A plaintiff in a negligence suit against two airlines is entitled to a new trial because a magistrate judge granted judgment as a matter of law before the plaintiff's case was "fully heard," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held Nov. 27 (Summers v. Delta Air Lines Inc., 9th Cir, No. 05-35220, 11/27/07).

Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a), the JMOL rule, precludes a district court from requiring that testimony be given through an offer of proof when, as in this case, a party seeks at trial to present relevant, admissible testimony from a witness on a disputed issue, Judge Susan P. Graber explained.