From BP Amoco Chem. Co. v. Flint Hills Resources, LLC, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28477 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 25, 2010):

BP Amoco seeks relief under both Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(b) and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(a). The standard under both rules is difficult to satisfy.

A. Judgment As a Matter of Law Pursuant to Rule 50(b)

When ruling on a motion for judgment as a matter of law following a jury verdict, courts do not re-weigh the evidence presented at trial or make credibility determinations. See Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 150, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000). "Once a jury has spoken, we are obliged to construe the facts in favor of the parties who prevailed under the verdict." Tate v. Executive Mgmt. Servs., Inc., 546 F.3d 528, 531 (7th Cir. 2008) (citations and quotations omitted). Considering the totality of the evidence, courts determine whether the jury was presented with a "legally sufficient amount of evidence from which it could reasonably derive its verdict." Massey v. Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Ill., 226 F.3d 922, 924 (7th Cir. 2000). In assessing a motion under Rule 50(b), courts view the evidence and all reasonable inferences in a light most favorable to the party who prevailed under the verdict and "do not make credibility determinations or weigh the evidence." Tate, 546 F.3d at 532; Reeves, 530 U.S. at 150-51; Learning Curve Toys, Inc. v. PlayWood Toys, Inc., 342 F.3d 714, 721 (7th Cir. 2003). As the Seventh Circuit has noted, "the standard is steep. A verdict will be set aside as contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence only if no rational jury could have rendered the verdict." Staub v. Proctor Hosp., 560 F.3d 647, 658 (7th Cir. 2009) (citations omitted).

B. New Trial Pursuant to Rule 59(a)

In the alternative, BP Amoco seeks a new trial pursuant to Rule 59(a). "A party seeking to reverse a district court's denial of a motion for a new trial bears a particularly heavy burden." Moore ex rel. Estate of Grady v. Tuelja, 546 F.3d 423, 427 (7th Cir. 2008) (quoting Smith v. Northeastern Ill. Univ., 388 F.3d 559, 569 (7th Cir. 2004)). "In ruling on a motion for new trial, federal law requires a district court to determine whether the verdict is against the weight of the evidence . . . the damages are excessive, or . . . for other reasons, the trial was not fair to the party moving." Kapelanski v. Johnson, 390 F.3d 525, 530 (7th Cir. 2004) (citations and quotations omitted). A verdict will be set aside as contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence only if "no rational jury" could have rendered the verdict. Moore, 546 F.3d at 427. Federal courts will not "set aside a jury verdict if a reasonable basis exists in the record to support the verdict, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prevailing party, and leaving issues of credibility and weight of evidence to the jury." ... The Seventh Circuit reviews new trial motions for an abuse of discretion, which occurs only when no reasonable person could agree with the district court. ABM Marking, Inc. v. Zanasi Fratelli S.R.L., 353 F.3d 541, 543 (7th Cir. 2003).

C. General Verdict

*** 1. Sunkist Does Not Require Reversal for a Single Error

Relying on Maryland v. Baldwin, 112 U.S. 480 (1884), and Sunkist Growers, Inc. v. Wincker & Smith Citrus Prods. Co., 370 U.S. 19 (1962), BP Amoco asserts that because of the general verdict form in this case, any error — legal or evidentiary — automatically results in reversal. Unlike the cases upon which BP Amoco relies, the verdict form in this case was not "general" in the traditional sense as to the question of liability or defenses. It simply did not itemize the amount of damages awarded. BP Amoco does not cite any cases supporting that the verdict form must itemize damages or reflect the damages theory or theories applied by the jury. Such a requirement would make little sense, especially where — as here — the damages for the breach-of-contract claim were the same whether the breach was for the condition-of assets-claim or the production capacity claim.

Furthermore, as the Tenth Circuit has noted, Sunkist "does not paint with as broad a brush as appears from the language quoted. As with all errors committed at trial, a litmus test for reversal is whether the appellant was thereby unjustly prejudiced." Asbill v. Housing Auth. of Choctaw Nation, 726 F.2d 1499, 1504 (10th Cir. 1984). As to evidentiary issues, the Seventh Circuit 5 has found that as long as substantial evidence exists to support one theory of liability on a general verdict in a single-claim case, then it will uphold the jury's verdict:

[B]ecause the plaintiffs could have succeeded under one of two alternative theories of relief, and the jury returned a general verdict as opposed to a special verdict which, for example, could have included specific findings with respect to each theory of relief, we need only find that there was substantial evidence to support the jury's verdict under at least one of the two alternative theories.

Culli v. Marathon Petroleum Co., 862 F.2d 119, 123 (7th Cir. 1988). The same analysis applies where multiple claims are involved in a case. See Lawndale Nat'l Bank v. American Cas. Co., 489 F.2d 1384, 1389 (7th Cir. 1973) (distinguishing general verdicts with multiple theories of defense and multiple theories of liability). Other courts have reached similar results. See, e.g., Davis v. Rennie, 264 F.3d 86, 105-07 (1st Cir. 2001) (adopting a harmless error approach and reversing general verdict only where it is "reasonably certain that the jury was not significantly influenced by issues erroneously admitted to it." (citations omitted)).