Judge ponders puzzling paradox about appellate scrutiny

Trial Notebook

By Steven P. Garmisa

Hoey & Farina

Posted August 12, 2022 10:58 AM

Concurring in a reversal and remand because of certain errors in a district judge’s detailed 33-page analysis of a trade dress claim, 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Gregg Costa searched for a rationale justifying a puzzling paradox about disparate levels of appellate scrutiny.Why, he wondered, does a general verdict from lay jurors who provide no explanation for their decision get more deferential review than the findings of fact that a highly trained district judge provides after a bench trial to satisfy the …

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