MIAMI — In an unusual decision, a federal judge overturned the first jury trial verdict in a Helms-Burton lawsuit, which had awarded a Cuban-American Miami man $30 million in damages against each of the booking companies Expedia, Orbitz, and Hotels.com for allegedly trafficking in confiscated property in Cuba.

Decisions to “set aside” jury verdicts are rare, but judges do so when they believe there’s insufficient evidence to support the verdict or the jury did not apply the law correctly.

In an order filed Friday, Francisco A. Moreno, a senior judge at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, said that lawyers for a man with a claim on confiscated land in Cayo Coco, a Cuban tourism destination, failed to prove that Expedia Group had trafficked in hotels the Cuban gov

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