§ 8.01-383.1.Appeal when verdict reduced and accepted under protest; new trial for inadequate damages.

A jury’s damages award does not always survive the trial judge’s review, and this section covers both directions that can go — an award the judge thinks is too high, and one the judge thinks is too low. When a trial court requires a plaintiff to remit part of a jury award or face a new trial, the plaintiff can accept the reduced judgment under protest without giving up the right to challenge that reduction. Filing under protest preserves an appeal to the Court of Appeals over whether the remittitur should have been ordered at all, and the defendant can appeal the remittitur order too, no matter the dollar amount involved. If the case goes further, the Supreme Court reviews it in whatever matters it grants a petition for appeal on, again regardless of amount.

The reverse situation — a verdict the court finds inadequate as a matter of law — gets a parallel structure called additur. The trial court can order a new trial outright, or require the defendant to pay more than the jury awarded. Either the plaintiff or the defendant can refuse that additional amount; if either one declines, the court has to award a new trial rather than force the increased figure on an unwilling party.

Just like on the remittitur side, a party is not stuck accepting the additur quietly. If either side accepts the additur under protest, that acceptance does not forfeit the right to have the additur reviewed on appeal.