31. Is the contractor's attorney able to prevent the case from being submitted to the jury?

A is correct. Motions to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction are always available, no matter what stage the action is at. During the course of this trial, it came out that both the plaintiff and the defendant are domiciled in State A, meaning that there is not complete diversity between the parties. The other way the court could have had jurisdiction was through federal question jurisdiction. However, as the facts state, this is a contract issue, and no federal question came up. Without complete diversity or a federal question, there is no valid basis for subject-matter jurisdiction, and the case cannot stay in federal court.

B is incorrect. Motions for summary judgment are pre-trial motions that are available only until 30 days after the completion of discovery. Here, the case has already gone to trial so this motion would be untimely.

C is incorrect. Judgment as a matter of law is granted only when the party against whom judgment is sought has presented all its evidence, and when a reasonable jury would not have a legally sufficient evidentiary basis to find for the party. Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a)(1). Therefore, because the homeowner has not finished presenting his case in chief, the contractor may not make a motion for judgment as a matter of law. There is also no indication that a reasonable jury would not find in favor of the homeowner.

D is incorrect. As stated above, the contractor's attorney may make a motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.