Montgomery Ward & Co. v. Duncan

After a jury returned a verdict for Duncan (plaintiff) in his negligence suit against Montgomery Ward & Co. (defendant), Montgomery Ward moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (j.n.o.v.) or, in the alternative, a new trial, expressly conditioning the new-trial request on the court denying the j.n.o.v. motion. The trial court found insufficient evidence to support the verdict and entered judgment for Montgomery Ward, without ever formally ruling on the alternative new-trial motion despite Duncan's request that it do so; Duncan appealed, and the court of appeals reversed the j.n.o.v. and directed entry of final judgment for Duncan, declining to remand for consideration of the still-unresolved new-trial motion.