Rule 73.01 - Trial Without Jury or With an Advisory Jury-Procedure In cases tried without a jury or with an advisory jury:
(a) The court shall rule upon all objections to evidence as in jury cases. Where the evidence is ruled inadmissible, the court upon request shall take and record the evidence in full, unless it clearly appears that the evidence is not admissible on any ground or that the evidence is privileged.(b) After the plaintiff has completed presentation of plaintiff's evidence, the defendant may move by motion for a judgment on the grounds that upon the facts and the law the plaintiff is not entitled to relief. The filing of such motion does not constitute a waiver of defendant's right to offer evidence.(c) The court shall render the judgment it thinks proper under the law and the evidence. If a party so requests, the court shall dictate to the court reporter or prepare and file a brief opinion containing a statement of the grounds for its decision and the method of deciding any damages awarded.
The court may, or if requested by a party shall, include in the opinion findings on the controverted material fact issues specified by the party. Any request for an opinion or findings of fact shall be made on the record before the introduction of evidence at trial or at such later time as the court may allow.
All fact issues upon which no specific findings are made shall be considered as having been found in accordance with the result reached.
(d) Except as provided in Rule 78.07(c), a party may, but need not, file a motion for new trial or a motion to amend the judgment or opinion, or both, as provided by Rule 78.04.Adopted March 29, 1974, eff. 1/1/1975. Amended June 5, 1980, eff. 1/1/1981; June 1, 1993, eff. 1/1/1994; Feb. 22, 1994, eff. 1/1/1995; May 28, 1996, eff. 1/1/1997; May 27, 1999, eff. 1/1/2000; June 17, 2004, eff. 1/1/2005; June 20, 2014, eff. 1/1/2015.