Trial Practice and Procedure

This Article surveys the 1991 decisions of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals that made a significant impact upon the area of trial practice and procedure. One of the most important developments in this area of law occurred in the case Wright v. Preferred Research, Inc. In Wright the Eleventh Circuit examined closely Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 58 and, in a case of first impression, held that when a district court amends a judgment, Rule 58 did not require that a separate document, setting out the terms of the remitted judgment, be entered before the time for the appeal begins to run. Another case of particular interest to practicing attorneys is Pelletier v. Zweifel. In Pelletier the court of appeals reversed a district court\u27s ruling and imposed double costs and attorney fees against a party for filing a frivolous complaint and a subsequent frivolous appeal. In addition, in Johns v. Jarrard, the Eleventh Circuit addressed the responsibility of federal trial judges in relation to answering questions of a jury and the consequences when a judge\u27s statements mislead the jury