Q: Hi if a judge issues a remitturr as a motion judgement does that mean that there was a offer discussed already on a case

A: First, I am going to try to make sense of what’s happened in your case. In order for the judge to have reduced the amount of a verdict (remittitur), there must have been a trial on damages in your case following the granting of summary judgment on liability and successful defense of the summary judgment decision on appeal. You make no mention of a trial, so I’m a little confused.

Both your attorney and defense counsel have the right to appeal the trial judge’s remittitur decision, and settlement discussions might be ongoing, but not necessarily. You should ask your attorney if there are settlement discussions and he or she can let you know if there has been an offer. In the meantime, your attorney can enter judgement and try to collect as long as there is no stay in place.

A: Remittitur is the process by which a court reduces a jury's verdict on damages (as opposed to additur, the process by which a court increases a jury's verdict). If this happened on your case it means that the jury returned a verdict in your favor. If the Court granted the defendant's motion to reduce the jury's verdict, that does not necessarily mean the defendant is willing to pay the judgment entered upon the jury's verdict. The defendant may still appeal the Court's decision (if it did not reduce the verdict as much as the defendant would have liked) or bring up for review other issues that arose during the trial (and either seek a new trial or dismissal of your case).