Rule 38: Right to a Jury Trial; Demand

The Seventh Amendment preserves the right to a jury trial in civil cases for suits at common law where the value in controversy exceeds twenty dollars. Rule 38 provides the procedural mechanism for invoking that right in federal court.

To preserve your jury trial right, you must file a written demand no later than 14 days after the last pleading directed to the issue. This is a strict deadline — if you miss it, you waive your right to a jury trial. A jury demand can cover all issues or be limited to specific issues. If one party demands a jury trial, the other parties may rely on that demand and do not need to file their own.

Waiver of the jury right is a serious consequence and happens automatically if the demand is not timely served. However, the court has discretion to grant a late jury demand on motion. The determination of whether an issue is triable by jury depends on whether the claim is legal (jury right) or equitable (no jury right) — this is the historical test, which looks to whether the claim would have been tried at law or in equity in 18th-century England.