TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

Court Creates Alternate Remand Remedy Under ‘13th Juror Rule’ in Civil Trials

Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Jul 10, 2024

The Tennessee Supreme Court today held that when a trial judge misunderstands the role as “13th juror” in a civil case, appellate courts should send the case back to the trial judge to review the case instead of automatically requiring the parties to go through a new trial. If the trial court is unable to fulfill the role of 13th juror on remand, only then should it order a new trial. Under the “13th juror” rule, the trial judge independently reviews the evidence and decides whether he agrees with the verdict of the 12 jurors. If he disagrees, the parties must re-try the case. The court also used the case to find that a claim of unjust enrichment does not require a voluntary conferral of a benefit, reversing the Court of Appeals and upholding the trial court’s dismissal of unjust enrichment claims. In addition, the court declined Plaintiffs’ invitation to create a new tort for the misappropriation of a statutory right of redemption. 

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