Document Type
Article
Publication Title
The Journal of Legal Studies
Publication Date
2006
ISSN
0047-2530
Page Number
119
Keywords
dispute resolution
Disciplines
Dispute Resolution and Arbitration | Law
Abstract
This paper uses a unique data set to examine how parties in civil litigation choose whether to demand a jury trial or to waive this right and whether trial forum influences the probability of trial versus settlement. Plaintiffs are more likely to demand trial by jury when juries are relativety more favorable to plaintiffs in similar cases and jury trials are relatively less costly than bench trials. Cases in which jury trials are demanded are 5.5 percentage points more ikely to settle without a trial than cases in which jury trials are waived. This differential settlement rate by potential trial forum suggests that tried cases are not a random sample of the set of legal disputes, so observed similarities between bench and jury verdicts may result from case selection effects.
Recommended Citation
Joni Hersch,
Demand for a Jury Trial and the Selection of Cases for Trial, 35 The Journal of Legal Studies. 119
(2006)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty-publications/688