Sample Motion for New Trial in California.

This sample motion for a new trial in California is made under Code of Civil Procedure section 657 on several grounds including,

• (1) Irregularity in the proceedings of the court, jury or adverse party, or any order of the court or abuse of discretion by which either party was prevented from having a fair trial;
• (2) misconduct of the jury; and whenever any one or more of the jurors have been induced to assent to any general or special verdict, or to a finding on any question submitted to them by the court, by a resort to the determination of chance, such misconduct may be proved by the affidavit of any one of the jurors;
• (3) accident or surprise, which ordinary prudence could not have guarded against;
• (4) newly discovered evidence, material for the party making the application, which he could not, with reasonable diligence, have discovered and produced at the trial;
• (5) excessive or inadequate damages;
• (6) insufficiency of the evidence to justify the verdict or other decision, or the verdict or other decision is against law, and
• (7) error in law, occurring at the trial and excepted to by the party making the application. 

.The sample motion has been revised and updated in 2019, and includes

• Notice of intention to move for new trial,
• Memorandum of points and authorities with citations to case law and statutory authority,
• Sample declaration, and
• Proof of service by mail. 

The author is an entrepreneur and retired litigation paralegal that worked in California and Federal litigation from January 1995 through September 2017 and has created over 300 sample legal documents for sale.

Note that the author is NOT an attorney and no guarantee or warranty is provided.