Last amended July 1, 2018 · Last verified July 1, 2026
In one sentenceRule 59 lists the grounds on which a court may grant a new trial on all or part of the issues, sets a fourteen-day deadline for a party's motion, and lets the court order a new trial on its own initiative within that same window.
A new trial may be granted to all or any of the parties and on all or part of the issues upon any of the following grounds:
1Irregularity in the proceedings of the court, jury, magistrate, or prevailing party, or any order of the court or magistrate, or abuse of discretion, by which an aggrieved party was prevented from having a fair trial;
2Misconduct of the jury or prevailing party;
3Accident or surprise which ordinary prudence could not have guarded against;
4Excessive or inadequate damages, appearing to have been given under the influence of passion or prejudice;
5Error in the amount of recovery, whether too large or too small, when the action is upon a contract or for the injury or detention of property;
6The judgment is not sustained by the weight of the evidence; however, only one new trial may be granted on the weight of the evidence in the same case;
7The judgment is contrary to law;
8Newly discovered evidence, material for the party applying, which with reasonable diligence he could not have discovered and produced at trial;
9Error of law occurring at the trial and brought to the attention of the trial court by the party making the application.
In addition to the above grounds, a new trial may also be granted in the sound discretion of the court for good cause shown.
When a new trial is granted, the court shall specify in writing the grounds upon which such new trial is granted.
On a motion for a new trial in an action tried without a jury, the court may open the judgment if one has been entered, take additional testimony, amend findings of fact and conclusions of law or make new findings and conclusions, and enter a new judgment.
BTime for certain post-trial motions, responsive briefs, and replies
Except as otherwise provided by statute, a motion for a new trial, remitter, additur, prejudgment interest, or attorney’s fees must be served within twenty-eight days of the entry of judgment or, if the clerk has not completed service of the notice of judgment within the three-day period described in Civ.R. 58(B), within twenty-eight days of the date when the clerk actually completes service. Unless otherwise provided by local rule or by order of the court, briefs in response to the motion shall be served within fourteen days of service of the motion, and a movant’s reply may be served within seven days of service of the response to the motion.
When a motion for a new trial is based upon affidavits they shall be served with the motion. The opposing party has fourteen days after such service within which to serve opposing affidavits, which period may be extended for an additional period not exceeding twenty- one days either by the court for good cause shown or by the parties by written stipulation. The court may permit supplemental and reply affidavits.
Not later than twenty-eight days after entry of judgment the court of its own initiative may order a new trial for any reason for which it might have granted a new trial on motion of a party.
The court may also grant a motion for a new trial, timely served by a party, for a reason not stated in the party’s motion. In such case the court shall give the parties notice and an opportunity to be heard on the matter. The court shall specify the grounds for new trial in the order.
Amendment History
Effective Date: July 1, 1970
Amended: July 1, 1996; July 1, 2013; July 1, 2015; July 1, 2018
Staff Note (July 1, 1996 Amendment)
Rule 59(A) Grounds
The amendment changed the rule’s reference from “referee” to “magistrate” in division (A)(1) in order to harmonize the rule with the language adopted in the 1995 amendments to Civ.R. 53. The amendment is technical only and no substantive change is intended.
Staff Note (July 1, 2013 Amendment)
Rule 59(B) is amended to extend the time for serving a motion for new trial to 28 days after the entry of the judgment. This change is modeled on the 2009 amendment to Fed.R.Civ.P. 59(b) and is made for the same reasons that prompted the amendment to the federal rule.
Staff Note (July 1, 2015 Amendment)
Consistent with a similar amendment to Civ.R. 6(B), the amendment to Civ.R. 59(B) specifies, in the absence of a local rule or court order specifying a time for responding to a motion for new trial, a fallback time of fourteen days after service of the motion within which to serve responsive arguments. In the absence of a local rule or court order addressing replies, the amendment also permits the movant to serve reply arguments within seven days after service of the adverse party’s response. The time for filing responsive arguments and replies is governed by Civ.R. 5(D), again in the absence of a local rule or order of the court specifying a different time for filing.
Staff Note (July 1, 2018 Amendment)
Division (B) Time for Certain Post-Trial Motions, Responsive Briefs, and Replies
The amendment makes two substantive changes.
First, it provides that if the clerk fails to serve the parties with notice of a judgment in the three- day period contemplated by Civ.R. 58(B), the time to serve a post-trial motion for judgment in favor of the movant does not begin to run until after the clerk does so. The purpose of the amendment is to avoid the harsh result that otherwise can occur if a would-be movant does not receive notice of the judgment. See, e.g., Wing v. Haaff, 1st Dist. Hamilton No. C-160257, 2016- Ohio-8258. This amendment brings the timing of post-trial motions under Civ.R. 59 in line with the timing of a notice of appeal in civil cases under App.R. 4(A)(3).
Second, the amendment provides that other types of post-trial motions (for remittitur, additur, prejudgment interest, and attorney fees) are subject to the same timing requirements as motions for a new trial unless a statute (e.g., R.C. 2323.51) provides a different time period. The rule change abrogates case law that provided shorter deadlines for some of these motions. See, e.g., Cotterman v. Cleveland Elec. Illuminating Co., 34 Ohio St.3d 48, 517 N.E.2d 536 (1987), paragraph one of the syllabus (motion for prejudgment interest due 14 days after judgment).
Plain-English Summary
Division (A) lists nine specific grounds for a new trial: irregularity in the proceedings that denied a party a fair trial, misconduct of the jury or the prevailing party, accident or surprise that ordinary prudence couldn't have guarded against, excessive or inadequate damages appearing to result from passion or prejudice, an erroneous amount of recovery in a contract or property action, a judgment not sustained by the weight of the evidence, a judgment contrary to law, newly discovered evidence that couldn't have been found earlier with reasonable diligence, and error of law occurring at trial and objected to by the moving party. A new trial may also be granted in the court's sound discretion for good cause shown, but only one new trial may be granted in the same case on the ground that the judgment isn't sustained by the weight of the evidence. When a new trial is granted, the court must specify in writing the grounds for doing so. In a case tried without a jury, the court may instead open the judgment, take more testimony, amend its findings and conclusions or make new ones, and enter a new judgment.
Division (B) requires a motion for a new trial, and certain other post-trial motions, to be served within fourteen days after entry of judgment -- a deadline that can't be extended. Division (C) requires affidavits supporting a motion for a new trial to be served with the motion, and gives the opposing party ten days after that service to respond with opposing affidavits, extendable by the court for good cause. Division (D) lets the court grant a new trial on its own initiative, for any reason that would support granting one on a party's motion, but only within fourteen days after entry of judgment; if the court adds grounds to those already raised in a party's timely motion, it must give the parties notice and an opportunity to be heard on the added grounds.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a party have to move for a new trial?
Fourteen days after entry of judgment, a deadline Rule 59(B) does not allow the court to extend.
Can a court grant more than one new trial in the same case because the verdict didn't match the weight of the evidence?
No. Rule 59(A) allows only one new trial in a given case on that specific ground, though other grounds aren't subject to that limit.
Can the court order a new trial without any party asking for one?
Yes, on its own initiative, for any reason that would justify granting one on motion, but only within fourteen days after entry of judgment.
Source & verification. The rule text, Effective Date, Amended dates, and Staff Notes are reproduced verbatim from the
official Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure (Ohio R. Civ. P. 59). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Ohio (Ohio Constitution, Art. IV, § 5(B)). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 1, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as:new trialmotion for new trialgrounds for new trial