§ 630.Motion For Directed Verdict

A directed verdict lets the court take a case away from the jury when the evidence doesn't support submitting it. Unless the court has specified an earlier time, any party may move for a directed verdict after all parties have finished presenting their evidence, without giving up the right to a jury trial if the motion is denied.

The court doesn't have to grant or deny the motion as a whole. If the evidence supports directing a verdict on some issues but not others, the court grants the motion as to those issues while the action proceeds on what remains — though no final judgment is entered until the whole action concludes, at which point the final judgment reflects both the directed verdict and whatever else was decided. Unless the order says otherwise, a granted motion operates as an adjudication on the merits. In personal-injury or property-damage actions, once a defendant gets a directed verdict on the ground of no fault, no other defendant may attempt, over the plaintiff's objection, to attribute fault to or comment on that defendant's absence during the rest of the trial.

A directed verdict takes effect without any need for the jury's assent. And if the jury ends up discharged without a verdict for any reason, the court — on its own motion or a party's motion given within ten days of the discharge — can still order judgment entered for a party whenever a directed-verdict motion for that party should have been granted, had one been made. That power expires 30 days after the discharge, except as § 12a extends computation of time, after which an undecided motion is deemed denied.