Remittitur: How The Term Is Used In Personal Injury Cases
Etymology In Latin, “remittitur” comes from the verb “remittere,” meaning “to send (something) back.” It is from this same Latin verb that English gets the words “to remit” (as in canceling something such as a debt) and “remittance” (something ‘sent back,’ especially the money that immigrants send to family members still living in the countries in which they were born). In Personal Injury Cases In personal injury cases tried before a jury, a remittitur is a ruling by a judge which reduces the amount awarded to the plaintiff by the jury. Most often, a judge justifies a remittitur on the grounds that damages awarded by the jury were in excess of what the plaintiff was seeking, or that the awarded damages are otherwise excessive. Remittitur rulings can be challenged. In Massachusetts, the Appeals Court hears challenges to remittitur decisions issued by lower courts. The remittitur ruling may be either tossed