Ambiance Associates, Inc. v. Kilby

STEPHENSON, J„

dissenting.

I respectfully dissent.

Judge Cacheris set aside the jury verdict and granted a new trial solely because he concluded that he had erred in refusing to give a jury instruction on intervening causation. He expressly held, however, that the verdict was not excessive. Thus, the error he acknowledged affected only the issue of liability, not damages. Therefore, when the defendant conceded liability, the error was moot.

Nevertheless, the majority holds that the defendant is entitled to a new trial on the issue of damages. It reasons that once a trial court sets aside a…