Trial by Jury in Complex Civil Cases

Although the Seventh Amendment preserves the right to civil trial in cases arising at common law, some federal courts have held that a case may be too complex for a lay jury to understand, and that submitting such a case to a jury is a denial of due process. Others have held that no litigant otherwise entitled to a jury trial should be denied it because of the difficulty of the case, that jurors are capable of understanding any case, and that trial by jury protects liberty and permits the decision to incorporate community values. The Supreme Court has not yet decided this issue. Its decisions might take into account whether jurors understand the issues in complex cases, whether jury trials cause delay and increased expense, whether the jurors who can serve and who are chosen in lengthy trials are representative, and whether the verdict in such cases is likely to be based on rules of law or inappropriate factors. The empirical research does not yield clear answers to these questions. However, laywers elect jury trials for tactical rather than doctrinal reasons, and jury cases are tried differently from others. All trials, jury or bench, suffer from poor management, and all can be improved by good administration

Denial · Hung jury · Jury · Jury trial · Political science · Summary judgment · Supreme court · Trial court · Verdict · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Law · Legal and Constitutional Studies · Political Theory and Influence · Psychology

• Democracy in America

  Alexis De Tocqueville, Harvey C Mansfield et al.•Democracy in America•2000

  Add to list

• The jury system in America

  Open Access•Rita James Simon•Journal of Criminal Justice•1976

  Add to list

• Preserving the Right to Jury Trial in Complex Civil Cases

  Montgomery Kersten•Stanford Law Review•1979

  Add to list

• Delay in the Court

  Jerome E Carlin, Hans Zeisel et al.•American Sociological Review•1960

  Add to list