## Facts

- Grafton Partners L.P. and related entities retained PricewaterhouseCoopers L.L.P. (PwC) to audit partnership accounts under a March 1999 engagement letter.
- The engagement letter included release/indemnification terms and a clause stating the parties agreed not to demand a jury trial in any action arising from PwC’s services or fees.
- In June 2002, Grafton sued PwC for negligence, misrepresentation, and related claims arising from PwC’s alleged failure to disclose and alleged concealment of fraudulent business practices discovered during the audit.
- Grafton demanded a jury trial in a March 2003 amended pleading.
- PwC moved to strike the jury demand based on the engagement letter’s predispute jury-trial waiver; the trial court granted the motion and set the matter for a bench trial.
- Grafton sought writ relief; the Court of Appeal granted relief, concluding that a predispute contractual jury waiver is not an authorized method of waiver under the governing statute.
- The California Supreme Court granted review.

## Issues

1. Whether California Code of Civil Procedure § 631 permits enforcement of a predispute contractual waiver of the right to a civil jury trial.
2. Whether § 631’s enumerated methods of waiving a jury trial are exclusive, thereby barring other forms of waiver not listed.

## Decision

- The California Supreme Court agreed with the Court of Appeal and held that predispute contractual waivers of the civil jury-trial right are not enforceable under California law.
- The Court interpreted § 631 as setting out the exclusive means by which a civil litigant may waive the right to jury trial; a waiver made before any dispute arises is not among those means.
- The Court rejected the argument that predispute jury waivers should be treated like arbitration agreements, reasoning that arbitration is authorized and regulated by a separate statutory scheme.
- The Court affirmed writ relief directing that the jury demand not be stricken, allowing the action to proceed as a jury trial absent a valid statutory waiver.

## Legal Principles

- The California Constitution protects the civil jury-trial right as “inviolate,” and courts may not create additional waiver mechanisms beyond those authorized by statute.
- Code of Civil Procedure § 631 provides an exclusive list of methods for waiving a civil jury trial; waiver by predispute contract is invalid unless the Legislature authorizes it.
- Arbitration agreements are not treated as comparable authority for enforcing predispute jury waivers because arbitration’s displacement of jury trial rests on specific legislative authorization.

## Conclusion

A clause in a contract executed before any controversy arises cannot waive the right to a civil jury trial in California; absent legislative authorization, only the waiver methods enumerated in Code of Civil Procedure § 631 are effective, so the jury demand in the dispute against PwC could not be stricken based on the engagement letter.


Grafton Partners L.P. v. Superior Court, 36 Cal. 4th 944 (Cal. 2005)