Trial by Jury in Complex Civil Cases: Voice of Liberty or Verdict by Confusion?

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.