The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has upheld a civil verdict in favor of a firm that had been accused of soliciting bad investments, rejecting claims that “misconduct” by defense counsel warranted a new trial.

In a decision published Monday, a three-judge panel of the Manhattan-based appeals court said that the plaintiff, an entity known as FIH LLC, had not met its “exceedingly heavy burden” of showing that supposedly improper comments to a jury had compromised the integrity of the trial.