Michigan

Should Juries Be Allowed to Decide Complex Michigan Corporate Litigation?

The jury is a time honored and essential part of the American justice system. The American jury system traces it roots to the Magna Carta, which is widely viewed as one of the most important legal documents in the history of democracy. An excellent summary of the history of the American jury system can be found at the website for the Missouri federal courts.

In essence, the job of a jury is to decide the disputed factual issues in a case. The presiding judge is tasked with resolving any legal issues that arise. However, as business and corporate litigation grows more complex, many wonder whether a jury of ordinary citizens can continue to play a meaningful role in these kinds of cases.

In many business disputes, the important issues revolve around extremely technical issues and facts, the testimony of expert witnesses, and other complexities of the business world. This trend in business litigation poses many difficult challenges to even those who are well versed in these subjects. Many believe that having a jury of ordinary citizens try to sort out these issues leads to bad decisions.

An interesting blog post in the online Illinois Business Law Journal takes the position that juries should not be used in complex business litigation. In support of its position, the post states the following:

"It is questionable whether juries are capable of understanding certain complex corporate legal issues sufficiently. It is evident that corporate litigation disputes are becoming more convoluted with expert testimonies, longer trials, and an overall abundance of facts and issues. It only seems necessary that a change occur."

The purpose of this post is not to take a position against the jury system. Obviously, it is an extremely important part of the American justice system and must continue to play a prominent role in the administration of justice. But, with the business world, and related litigation, growing ever more complex, it seems to be a legitimate and reasonable question whether it is fair to expect juries to competently tackle such challenging subjects as patent and trademark disputes, computer and Internet issues, and complex business and financial matters.

Full post as published by Michigan Business Lawyer Blog on August 13, 2008 (boomark / email).