• In a civil trial, a judge may decide the outcome regardless of the jury's decision.law courts image by Peter Helin from Fotolia.com
  
  Judgments in civil court are different from verdicts in that judgments are handed down by the judge and may actually be counter to a jury verdict. There are different types of judgments that may be given. Summary judgments are those in which the judge decides before the trial actually starts that the plaintiff is not likely to be able to prove his claim. A judgment as a matter of law is made after evidence has been heard, and can be issued before jury deliberations or even after a jury decision.
  
  

Motion for Summary Judgment

• After a plaintiff files a complaint, the defendant may question whether the plaintiff can prove the elements of the complaint necessary to win his case. If so, the defendant can challenge this by making a motion for summary judgment under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP). According to Rule 56, either party may move for summary judgment "at any time until 30 days after the close of all discovery." The opposing party will then have 21 days to respond. The movant (person presenting a motion to the judge) may then file a reply within 14 days after the response is served.
  
  

Granting Summary Judgment

• Either party may actually move for summary judgment, but, because the burden of proof is on the plaintiff, the defendant is more likely to challenge the facts in the complaint. This shouldn't be confused with a 12(b) motion against the plaintiff for failure to state a claim, but rather a challenge against the plaintiff's assertion that he can actually produce evidence proving his claim. If during these pretrial motions, the judge determines that the plaintiff will certainly lose the case if it goes to trial, she may grant summary judgment.
  
  

Judgment as a Matter of Law

• Judgments as a matter of law are given after the plaintiff, at least, has had an opportunity to present her evidence and usually after the defendant has also presented. A judgment as a matter of law that is made before a jury decision is called a "directed verdict." However, such a judgment can also be given even after the jury has made a decision and this is called a "judgment notwithstanding a verdict."
  
  

Directed Verdict

• The purpose of a motion for directed verdict is to ask the trial judge to take the verdict away from the jury. According to Rule 50(a) of the FRCP, a judge may grant this request if he feels that there is "no legally sufficient evidentiary basis" to support a verdict for the plaintiff, which is also the same standard for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
  
  

Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict

• A directed verdict will often lead to an appeal by the plaintiff. To avoid this scenario, a judge may let the jury make a decision on the case even though he believes that the plaintiff failed to make her case. Usually, the jury will return a verdict consistent with this belief. However, if the jury returns a verdict the judge feels is completely wrong, he may issue a judgment notwithstanding a verdict under Rule 50(b).