Federal Judiciary United States Courts

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

Rule 39. Trial by Jury or by the Court

(a) When a Demand Is Made. When a jury trial has been demanded under Rule 38 , the action must be designated on the docket as a jury action. The trial on all issues so demanded must be by jury unless:

  1. the parties or their attorneys file a stipulation to a nonjury trial or so stipulate on the record; or

  2. the court, on motion or on its own, finds that on some or all of those issues there is no federal right to a jury trial.

(b) When No Demand Is Made. Issues on which a jury trial is not properly demanded are to be tried by the court. But the court may, on motion, order a jury trial on any issue for which a jury might have been demanded.

(c) Advisory Jury; Jury Trial by Consent. In an action not triable of right by a jury, the court, on motion or on its own:

  1. may try any issue with an advisory jury; or

  2. may, with the parties’ consent, try any issue by a jury whose verdict has the same effect as if a jury trial had been a matter of right, unless the action is against the United States and a federal statute provides for a nonjury trial.

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