# Jury Trial Demanded (Civil case) - Why?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-trial-demanded-civil-case-why/669580>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [September 24, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-trial-demanded-civil-case-why/669580 "2013-09-24T14:28:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-trial-demanded-civil-case-why/669580/21 "2013-09-24T17:39:31Z")

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> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> His ex is another defendant, not the plaintiff.
> 
> ETA: There are lots of reasons. Defamation, potential inconsistent statements, discussing otherwise inadmissible matters, the list is probably pages long.

One possible reason is that the person will inadvertently give the other side something they can use, or potentially in the telling of the story on a message board will change up some details which may in a court of law bite them in the ass.

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-trial-demanded-civil-case-why/669580/22 "2013-09-25T16:10:39Z")

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Phone discussion today supports what people have suggested. My attorneys are kind of surprised that the other parties never demanded jury trial. My attorneys feel very confidant in our case, and say we just need to avoid being overly confident. Yay!!

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**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\
**Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-trial-demanded-civil-case-why/669580/23 "2013-09-26T07:30:07Z")

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> [@kayaker](#):
>
> My attorneys feel very confidant in our case, and say we just need to avoid being overly confident. Yay!!

Ah, yes. The oft overlooked legal strategy of modified orthography.

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-trial-demanded-civil-case-why/669580/24 "2013-09-26T11:50:05Z")

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> [@BigT](#):
>
> Ah, yes. The oft overlooked legal strategy of modified orthography.

Objection! Heh. I read what I wrote 17 times before I realized what you meant. Estoppel!

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**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\
**Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-trial-demanded-civil-case-why/669580/25 "2013-09-26T12:07:21Z")

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A bit tangential to the original issue: What (is|expect US lawyers to be) US jurors’ attitude towards the party that demanded a jury trial in a civil case when the other party would have been content with a bench trial? Wouldn’t jurors tend to be prejudiced in favour of the party that did not want to take up their time?

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