Re: poor lawyer -- and preference for jury v bench trial when CA sues debtor?

Posted by poor lawyer (24.199.187.22) on August 21, 2002 at 14:19:43:

In Reply to: poor lawyer -- and preference for jury v bench trial when CA sues debtor? posted by lucy on August 21, 2002 at 04:36:02:

In an action "at law," the defendant has a right to a trial by jury. An action "at law" is basically one for money damages, debts, and most statutory violations.

In an action "in equity," there is no right to a trial by jury. For the most parts, equity cases are tried with the judge being the finder of fact. Equity actions usually involve more than money damages. Examples of equity actions are foreclosure suits, suits for specific performance, and suits for injunction, among others.

Sometimes a case will involve actions both "at law" and "in equity" in the same case. Depending on a number of factors, the right to a jury may be waived, or the actions tried together in front of a jury, or the actions severed and tried separately, with the at law action in front of a jury and the equity action in front of the judge.

The most commmon term for a trial in which the judge is the finder of fact, i.e. there is no jury, is a "bench trial."

That is not to be confused with an "evidentiary hearing." A hearing is for determining pre-trial matters, and there is no jury in a hearing. Sometimes a hearing just determines issues of law, sometimes both issues of law and fact. If there are fact issues in a hearing, it is an "evidentiary hearing" in which the judge will determine the questions of fact.

A "bench trial" would be a full and final adjudication on the merits, without the aid of a jury.

Whether or not you want a jury trial or not will dependon a whole host of factors. Usually, if it is an emotional case, where your side has suffered a perceived injustice, you want a jury. If you are case involves legal technicalities, you want a judge. That site that somebody posted about below has a good article on this.

I don't know the answer to the question about waiving a jury and then filing a counter- or cross-complaint. It can vary from state to state, depending on the court decisions. That is a very technical procedural question and will depend on the nature of the claims asserted and the case law of that jurisdiction.

poor lawyer, esq.

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