Olsen v. Kraus, No. 20-2771 (8th Cir. 2022)
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After Xurex filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the trustee filed suit against defendant and others for breach of fiduciary duty and civil conspiracy. The jury returned a verdict for the trustee against defendant for conspiracy to breach fiduciary duties.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed the jury's verdict and the district court's denial of defendant's motions for judgment as a matter of law, a new jury trial, the entries of judgment, and all adverse rulings. The court concluded that the evidence was sufficient to support the jury's verdict finding that defendant breached a fiduciary duty and there was no error in denying defendant's Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(d) motion; defendant waived several arguments he now raises about the language of the verdict director and the inconsistency of the verdict; because plaintiff's damage theories for civil conspiracy and breach of fiduciary duty were the same, the district court properly entered judgment on the larger of the two amounts; and the district court did not plainly err as to the jury instructions.
Court Description: [Benton, Author, with Loken and Colloton, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Bankruptcy. No error in denying defendant Kraus's Rule 50(b) post-trial motion; in action brought by the bankruptcy trustee, there was sufficient evidence to support the jury's finding of conspiracy to breach a fiduciary duty; defendant waived most of his arguments concerning the language of the verdict director and the inconsistency of the verdict; because plaintiff's damage theories for civil conspiracy and breach of fiduciary duty were the same, the district court properly entered judgment for the larger of the two amounts awarded; the jury instructions were not plainly erroneous.
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