A remittitur is a ruling by a judge (usually upon motion to reduce or throw out a jury

Jury

A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...

 verdict

Verdict

In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. The term, from the Latin veredictum, literally means "to say the truth" and is derived from Middle English verdit, from Anglo-Norman: a compound of ver and dit In law, a verdict...

) lowering the amount of damages granted by a jury in a civil case. Usually, this is because the amount awarded exceeded the amount demanded. The term is sometimes used for a reduction in awarded damages even when the amount awarded did not exceed the amount demanded, but is otherwise considered excessive. Famous examples of the latter are some high-profile filesharing court cases like Sony BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum

Sony BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum

Sony BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum is the subsequent appeals lawsuit following the initial case Sony BMG v. Tenenbaum decided on 31 July 2009 by the Massachusetts District Court. The initial court decision stated Joel Tenenbaum was to pay a sum of $675,000 for damages on counts of willful...

and Capitol v. Thomas

Capitol v. Thomas

Capitol v. Thomas was the first file-sharing copyright infringement lawsuit in the United States brought by major record labels to be tried before a jury. The defendant, Jammie Thomas-Rasset, was found liable in a 2007 trial for infringing 24 songs and ordered to pay $222,000 in statutory damages...

.

If the motion is granted, the plaintiff may either accept the reduced verdict or submit to a new trial.

The term is also sometimes used in place of "remand"--that is, moving a case from a higher court to a lower court.

See also

• Additur
  Additur
  An additur is a legal term referring to the practice of a trial judge adding damages additional to the original amount awarded by the jury. It is not allowed in U.S. federal courts, as held by Dimick vs. Schiedt, 293 U.S. 474 ,. Some American states, however, allow the practice, including California...
  
  is a raising of the jury verdict. It is not allowed in the United States federal system due to Dimick v. Schiedt, 293 U.S. 474 (1935).