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Rulings on jury waiver, mandatory arbitration affirm right to jury trial.

Article Excerpt
Two recent rulings reaffirmed the right to trial by jury: The California Supreme Court held that predispute waivers of a jury trial are not allowed under the state constitution, and the First Circuit concluded that an e-mail message was not sufficient notice of a mandatory arbitration policy.

In California, Grafton Partners sued its auditor, the accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers, in June 2002, claiming negligence and misrepresentation stemming from its failure to disclose fraudulent business practices it had discovered. The plaintiffs requested a jury trial, but the trial court denied it based on a waiver contained in the parties' engagement letter. The court of appeal reversed, and the state supreme court agreed.

Arthur Bryant, executive director of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ) in Washington, D.C., said the ruling "soundly rejects the latest corporate strategy aimed at eliminating the...