As with Rule 60 motions, Rule 59 motions are not justified by a party’s mere disagreement with the court’s ruling as the Rule is not intended to give the losing party’s attorney a second bite at the apple.
#SAMPLE MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION FOR FEDERAL COURT TRIAL#
A motion for reconsideration brought under Rule 59(e), may only be granted in very narrow circumstances: (1) to accommodate an intervening change in controlling law (2) to account for new evidence not available at trial or (3) to correct a clear error of law or prevent manifest injustice. Rule 59(e), which allows an aggrieved party to move to “alter or amend a judgment,” is another Rule sometimes employed as a basis for seeking reconsideration. In federal courts sitting in Virginia, motions for reconsideration cannot be granted where the moving party simply seeks to have the court rethink what it has already thought through–regardless of whether its decision is right or wrong. The Fourth Circuit has held that Rule 60(b) “does not authorize a motion merely for reconsideration of a legal issue” and that Rule 60 cannot be used to make a motion simply asking the court to change its mind. Those circumstances include mistake, excusable neglect, newly discovered evidence, fraud by an opposing party, and “any other reason that justifies relief.” That catch-all is not as broad as it sounds, however. Rule 60(b) allows for “relief from a final judgment, order, or proceeding” in certain circumstances.
Still, reconsideration of a judgment is considered an extraordinary remedy which will be granted only sparingly. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not expressly allow motions for reconsideration, but district courts generally treat them as being filed under Rule 59 or 60. The permissible grounds for seeking reconsideration depend on whether you’re in federal court or state court. Do you file a follow-up motion asking the court to change its mind? Or do you file it away in the “ grounds for appeal” category? Motions for reconsideration are disfavored in every jurisdiction and you’ve already lost once–so the odds are against you–but if the court made a clear mistake of law, it can make sense to inform the court of the mistake. “The court got it wrong,” you tell yourself, perhaps even sincerely. Suppose you lose a motion you thought you would almost certainly win.
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