Litigation entails many, many things. Once in the courtroom, experience is key and thinking on your feet is a necessity. A recent case shows just how a mistake in the courtroom can cost a client hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some mistakes in the courtroom you cannot recover from; once made, the right to cure at the appellate level is gone.
The jury verdict form is the set of instructions and questions given to the jury for the foreperson to complete. Lawyers spend dozens of hours researching and crafting the instructions and questions for the jury to answer. The instructions are the handbook used by the jurors to guide them on the law and their collective obligation. Miss an instruction or fail to object to an omission, and you just might lose the right to appeal it later. In a case involving a prominent Hugo company, that's exactly what happened (but in its favor).
According to Minnesota law, the failure to request a jury instruction constitutes forfeiture of the issue on appeal. Germann v. F.L. Smithe Mach. Co., 381 N.W.2d 503, 509-10 (Minn. Ct. App. 1986) (stating that when party does not request jury instruction and neither jury instructions nor special-verdict form include issue, appellate court may not consider it), aff’d, 395 N.W.2d 922 (Minn. 1986); see also Murphy v. City of Minneapolis, 292 N.W.2d 751, 755 (Minn. 1980) (concluding that party’s failure to object to jury instructions at trial waives right to appeal issue). Similarly, “a failure to object to a special verdict form prior to its submission to the jury constitutes a waiver of a party’s right to object on appeal.” Kath v. Burlington N. Railroad Co., 441 N.W.2d 569, 572 (Minn. App. 1989) (citation omitted), review denied (Minn. July 27, 1989). In the opinion released this week, a customer failed to require an instruction related to indemnification by the Hugo company and failed to object to indemnification not being on the jury verdict form. The customer lost on the merits on its claims, but had a contract clause that might have otherwise saved it. That clause, an indemnification clause, was not included on the jury verdict form to permit the jury to determine if the customer was entitled to indemnification from the Hugo firm. The cost: nearly $1,000,000.00.
One wrong step or answer and a litigation can get entirely turned on its ear. Preparation and quick thinking cannot be taken for granted. Even during COVID hearings and trials are taking place, make sure you have a lawyer who can protect your interests.
