Section 12.18 Appellate Review of Instructional Errors

• Library: Civil Trial Practice 2015 Supp

B. (§12.18) Appellate Review of Instructional Errors

The most commonly raised instructional error on appeal is not a complaint that the instruction was incorrectly written, but that one or more of the elements submitted was not supported by the evidence. This is a uniquely case-specific issue. Other than to remind counsel to make sure that substantial evidence has been submitted to support each element that needs to be proved, there is little in the way of specific suggestions that can be made here.

Instructional drafting errors are reviewed in a four-step analysis. First, as noted in §§12.1 and 12.3...