1) IANAL, but it's mentioned in The Verge that it was actually considered unusual for the judge to even consider KPCB's request to dismiss the punitive damages

1) IANAL, but it's mentioned in The Verge that it was actually considered unusual for the judge to even consider KPCB's request to dismiss the punitive damages claim 2) If, as you claim, the jury will be unduly influenced by the judge's ruling, KPCB's lawyers have only themselves to blame. They filed that motion. Their lawyers are extremely experienced and should have known what the result would be if the judge made a ruling denying their request. This leads me to believe that in practice these rulings do not unduly influence juries; especially because the judge specifically noted in his ruling that: "Interpreting the evidence most favorably to Ms. Pao and most strongly against Kleiner Perkins, and resolving all presumptions, inferences, and doubts in favor of Ms. Pao, as I am required to do on a nonsuit motion... there is sufficient evidence..." http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/21/8267273/judge-in-kleiner-perkins-trial-just-ruled-that http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/21/8267273/judge-in-kleiner-p...