Expedited Jury Trials in the United States

California Expedited Jury Trials Act: Expedited Jury Trials in California

By David Ferry

In 2011, California attorneys from the plaintiff and defense bars – in an uncommon alliance – ushered in the Expedited Jury Trials Act of 2010. Despite the initial fanfare, proponents are now worried that one of the state’s most creative ways to ease the courts’ backlog is being ignored.

Advocates for the program estimate that roughly 100 expedited jury trials (EJTs) have been disposed since January 2011, based on anecdotal data (the Administrative Office of the Courts only began to assess the program’s success last month). According to Los Angeles County, 40 EJTs have been carried out, and in San Francisco County, officials estimate there have been about 13 such trials.

Despite the many threats facing California’s courts, aspects of the program can be off-putting for lawyers – particularly the time constraints and lack of opportunity to appeal – and the new procedures are unfamiliar.

“It’s hard for attorneys to just start using it,” says Paula Hannaford-Agor, director of the Center for Jury Studies with the National Center for State Courts and coauthor of a study on summary jury trial programs. “Right now attorneys [in California] are still saying, ‘What is this creature, and am I committing malpractice by even thinking of using it?’ ”

California’s expedited jury trial program is generally based on the successful summary jury trial programs in South Carolina and New York. These trials are designed for speed: Parties have 15 minutes for voir dire, and only eight jurors are selected; each attorney’s case is limited to just three hours; and, critically, verdicts essentially cannot be appealed.

When compared to New York’s program, California’s is arguably off to a slow start. Empire State courts conducted 113 summary jury trials in the first year alone, and in 2011 they disposed of 566 cases that way. Some of this success may be thanks to Bronx County Supreme Court Judge Lucindo Suarez, who acted as statewide coordinator for the program and traveled from Lake Erie to the Bronx to spread the summary jury trial gospel. In California, the AOC never considered a statewide coordinator position.

Others speculate that the contentious nature of California’s bar has kept the program from succeeding. In particular, insurance carriers – often the defendants in the types of cases ripe for expediting – have hesitated to agree to EJTs, according to attorney Daniel M. Dembicer, who tried the first EJT in Los Angeles County and “loved it.” However, he has been unable to persuade an insurance company to agree to another one since. “Anything that makes litigation easier on any level, the insurance companies don’t like,” says Dembicer.

Michael P. Maguire, whose insurance staff counsel have handled more than a dozen EJTs for State Farm, rejects the idea that carriers are to blame. He believes that everyone, including insurance companies, have much to gain from a speedy trial. “Most of the stakeholders are interested,” he says. “It’s the lawyers who are afraid to try something new.”

Still, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mary Thornton House, who chaired the working group that drafted the law, insists she isn’t worried about the program’s future. Although “buy-in” has lagged in LA County, House says, the number of expedited jury trials held there is still impressive. “I think about mediation: It was so pooh-poohed for so many years, and that’s all we do now,” she says.

Expedited Jury Trials in Utha

The Expedited Jury Trial Act, passed in March of 2011, permits parties to reach a judge’s trial calendar more quickly, and conduct the trial more quickly by making certain changes.

Utah’s Expedited Jury Trials Act authorized the Judicial Council to create procedures for a pilot project for expedited jury trials in civil actions. The Expedited Jury Trial Act allows cases to be set for trial more quickly, and the trial itself is expedited. The pilot program for expedited jury trials is implemented at Utah Rule 4-501 ( To implement the pilot program for expedited jury trial established by the Expedited Jury Trial Act). Required and optional agreements and waivers, as well as applicable forms, can be found on the Court’s website. The Administrative Office of the Courts shall present a report on the pilot to the Judiciary Interim Committee no later than September 2016.

Expedited Jury Trials in Texas: The death of the Civil Jury Trial?

The Texas Supreme Court promulgated in 2013 rules that require plaintiffs to bracket the damages sought in their initial pleadings and provide an expedited trial process for cases where less than $100,000 is in dispute. Plaintiffs must bracket their damages in their original pleadings. The bracket choices are incorporated into the new Civil Case Information Sheet that must be filed with the original petition.

If a plaintiff does not bracket her damages in her pleadings, the court must require amendment upon special exception filed by the opposition, and the plaintiff cannot conduct discovery until her pleadings are amended to comply.

Resources

See Also

• Summary Trials
• Civil Jury Trial
• Grand jury
• Trial jury
• Expedited Rescission
• Trial By Jury
• Jury Charge
• Jury History
• Hung Jury
• Jury Function
• Function of a Jury