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Don’t forget to file your post-trial motions!

/ 22.Mar, 2011

The Pennsylvania Superior Court has just quashed an appeal of an $18,489,221.60 (and counting) verdict entered against Safeway, Inc., as the successor of Genuardi’s Family Markets, Inc. (Newman Development Group v. Genuardi’s, 744 EDA 2010 (Pa. Super. 2010).  The Superior Court quashed the appeal because defendants did not file any post-trial or reconsideration motions after the trial court’s final verdict following a remand from the Superior Court.  Although the defendants had filed a motion for reconsideration of a January 15, 2010 opinion, they did not file any motion with respect to a subsequent February 25, 2010 decision.   Plaintiff argued that the failure to file a post-trial motion with respect to the February 25, 2010 decision resulted in a waiver of the issues on appeal pursuant to Pa. R.A.P. 227.1, and the Superior Court agreed.  The Superior Court rejected defendants’ argument that no post-trial motion could be filed because there was no trial following the remand.  Malpractice avoidance requires you to keep those post trial motions in mind.  The full decision can be found at:

 http://www.pacourts.us/T/SuperiorCourt/SuperiorCourtOpinions.htm

-Josh J.T. Byrne, Esquire

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