Opinion ID: 28760
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Legal Standard for Judgment as a Matter of Law

Text: 32 This Court properly reviews de novo the district court's ruling on a motion for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL), applying the same legal standard used by the district court. Coffel v. Stryker Corp., 284 F.3d 625, 630 (5th Cir.2002) (citing Flowers v. S. Reg'l Physician Servs., 247 F.3d 229, 235 (5th Cir.2001)). Although our review is de novo, ... our standard of review with respect to a jury verdict is especially deferential. Flowers, 247 F.3d at 235 (internal quotations omitted) (quoting Brown v. Bryan County, Okla., 219 F.3d 450, 456 (5th Cir.2000), cert. denied, 532 U.S. 1007, 121 S.Ct. 1734, 149 L.Ed.2d 658 (2001)). Therefore, JMOL should only be granted if the facts and inferences point so strongly and overwhelmingly in the movant's favor that reasonable jurors could not reach a contrary conclusion. Id. 33 Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50, judgment as a matter of law is proper after a party has been fully heard by the jury on a given issue, [if] there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to have found for that party with respect to that issue. Ford v. Cimarron Ins. Co. 230 F.3d 828, 830 (5th Cir.2000) (internal quotations omitted) (quoting Foreman v. Babcock & Wilcox Co., 117 F.3d 800, 804 (5th Cir.1997)). In entertaining a Rule 50 motion, the court must review all of the evidence in the record, and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party. Ellis v. Weasler Eng'g, Inc., 258 F.3d 326, 337 (5th Cir.2001), as amended, (citing Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 150, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000)). The court may not make credibility determinations or weigh the evidence, as [c]redibility determinations, the weighing of the evidence, and the drawing of legitimate inferences from the facts are jury functions, not those of a judge. Reeves, 530 U.S. at 150-151, 120 S.Ct. 2097 (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250-51, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)). Thus, in reviewing the record as a whole, the court must disregard all evidence favorable to the moving party that the jury is not required to believe. Ellis, 258 F.3d at 337 (citing Reeves, 530 U.S. at 151, 120 S.Ct. 2097).