NEW TRIAL OR HEARING ON CONTESTED MATTERS

(a) Grounds. The grounds for a motion for a new trial, a new hearing in a contested matter, or amendment of judgment pursuant to FRBP 9023 or F.R.Civ.P. 59(a) include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following: (1) Irregularity in the proceedings of the court, adverse party, or jury; (2) Any order of the court or abuse of discretion by which the party was prevented from receiving a fair trial; (3) Misconduct by the jury; (4) Accident or surprise that could not have been guarded against by the exercise of ordinary prudence; (5) Newly discovered evidence material to the interest of the party making the application that could not with reasonable diligence have been discovered and produced at trial; (6) Excessive or inadequate damages appearing to have been determined under the influence of passion or prejudice; (7) Insufficiency of the evidence to justify the verdict or other decision; and (8) Errors of law occurring at the trial. (b) Procedure. (1) Error of Law.

If the ground for the motion is error of law occurring at the trial, the error or errors relied upon must be stated specifically. (2) Insufficiency of Evidence. If the ground for the motion is the insufficiency of the evidence, the motion must specify with particularity wherein the evidence is claimed to be insufficient. (3) Newly Discovered Evidence.

If the ground for the motion is newly discovered evidence, the motion must be supported by declarations by the party, or the agent of the party having personal knowledge of the facts, showing: (A) When the evidence was first discovered; (B) Why it could not with reasonable diligence have been produced at trial or the original hearing on a motion; (C) What attempts were made to discover and present the evidence at trial or the 134 LBR 9015-1 original hearing on a motion; (D) If the evidence is oral testimony, the nature of the testimony and the willingness of the witness to so testify; and (E) If the evidence is documentary, the documents or duly authenticated copies thereof, or satisfactory evidence of their contents where the documents are not then available. (c) Documents, Transcripts, Evidence. The motion will be determined based upon: (1) The documents on file; (2) The recorder’s transcript or digital recording; and (3) Declarations, if the ground is other than error of law or insufficiency of the evidence and the facts or circumstances relied on do not otherwise appear in the records of the court. (d) Declarations - Time for Filing.

Declarations in support of a motion for a new trial must be filed and served concurrently with the motion unless the court fixes a different time. (e) Hearing. The motion for a new trial must be set for hearing as provided in LBR 9013-1(d).