Michael Soto, Plaintiffs/appellants v. Anthony M. Sacco, Defendants/appellees

Summary

The court held that a trial court may conditionally grant a new trial and order remittitur when a jury’s damages award is excessive and unsupported by the evidence, but the order must state the applicable grounds and explain its basis with sufficient particularity to permit meaningful review. Because the trial court’s explanation was conclusory, the burden shifted to the defendants, who nevertheless established that the remittitur was supported by substantial evidence and was not an abuse of discretion. The court vacated the intermediate appellate decision, affirmed the conditional new-trial order, and remanded for further proceedings.