S 8625: Requires the appellate division gives the highest degree of deference to the jury's fact finding, including its assessment of damages.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8625 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE December 19, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. MYRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to setting the level of deference given by the appellate division to the jury's fact finding The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision (c) of section 5501 of the civil practice law 2 and rules, as amended by chapter 474 of the laws of 1997, is amended to 3 read as follows: 4 (c) Appellate division. The appellate division shall review questions 5 of law and questions of fact on an appeal from a judgment or order of a 6 court of original instance and on an appeal from an order of the supreme 7 court, a county court or an appellate term determining an appeal. The 8 notice of appeal from an order directing summary judgment, or directing 9 judgment on a motion addressed to the pleadings, shall be deemed to 10 specify a judgment upon said order entered after service of the notice 11 of appeal and before entry of the order of the appellate court upon such 12 appeal, without however affecting the taxation of costs upon the appeal. 13 In reviewing a money judgment in an action in which an itemized verdict 14 is required by rule forty-one hundred eleven of this chapter [in which 15 it is contended that the award is excessive or inadequate and that a new 16 trial should have been granted unless a stipulation is entered to a 17 different award, the appellate division shall determine that an award is 18 excessive or inadequate if it deviates materially from what would be 19 reasonable compensation], where it is contended that the award is exces- 20 sive or inadequate and that a new trial should have been granted unless 21 a stipulation is entered to a different award, the appellate division 22 shall give the highest degree of deference to the jury's factual find- 23 ings, including its assessment of damages. An award shall not be deemed 24 excessive or inadequate unless the moving party establishes, by clear EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD14193-02-5 
 S. 8625 2 1 and convincing evidence, that the verdict is so extraordinary that it 2 shocks the conscience of the court and could not have been reached by 3 any reasonable jury. In making this determination, the appellate divi- 4 sion shall consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the 5 prevailing party and shall not substitute its judgment for that of the 6 jury on questions of credibility, weight of the evidence, or the quanti- 7 fication of damages. 8 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and apply to all actions 9 filed on or after such effective date.