When Does Interest Run on Remittitur
In the case of Thompson v. Memorial Hosp. of Carbondale, 2011 WL 1642594S.D.Ill. (2011), the question presented to the Appellate Court was - When does post-judgment interest start to run once remittitur has been ordered and the plaintiff accepts the proposed reduction? In this case, the remittitur lowered the original verdict of $500,000 to $250,000. The defendant hospital argued that post-conviction interest should begin to accrue at the time of the remittitur and not from the original judgment date.
The court disagreed and distinguished cases where a first judgment is vacated and remanded because the original judgment lacked an evidentiary or legal basis. Coredero v. De Jesus-Mendez, 922 F. 2d 11, 16 (1st Cir. 1990). In these types of cases, because damages have not been originally ascertained in a meaningful way, post-judgment interest accrues from the date of the second judgment. Id. However if the original judgment is basically legally sound but merely modified on remand, post-interest judgment accrues from the date of the original first judgment. Id.
The court further explained that in cases in which a remittitur of damages had been ordered the rule is: “Where damages were sufficiently ascertained at the time of the district court judgment and a remittitur order only merely reduced the damages by a distinct amount easily determined from the facts of the case, post-judgment interest accrues from the date of the district court’s original judgment, rather than from the date the plaintiff consents to remittitur.” Coal Res., Inc. v. Gulf & W. Indus., Inc., 954 F.2d 1263 (6th Cir.1992).
In this case, the Seventh Circuit found that the jury’s judgment in favor of Thompson was basically sound and supported by the evidence but was excessive under the facts. It was also not in line with awards in similar cases. Therefore, because there was only a reduction in damages, the district held that post-judgment interest ran from the date of the original judgment.
