## Facts

- U.S. Financial (USF), a real estate development and financial-services company, conducted multiple stock and debenture offerings and later collapsed, prompting numerous investor lawsuits.
- About twenty actions alleging securities violations and related tort claims were filed in multiple federal districts.
- The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred the actions to the Southern District of California for coordinated pretrial proceedings.
- The district court, acting sua sponte, struck all parties’ jury demands, reasoning that the consolidated litigation’s factual and legal complexity exceeded a jury’s practical ability.
- The district court certified the jury-strike order for interlocutory appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b), and the Ninth Circuit granted review.

## Issues

1. Whether the Seventh Amendment permits a judicially created “complexity” exception allowing a federal court to deny a properly demanded civil jury trial because the case is too complex for a jury.

## Decision

- The Ninth Circuit reversed the order striking all jury demands and remanded.
- The court held there is no complexity-based exception to the Seventh Amendment jury-trial right in civil actions triable at law.
- The court rejected efficiency and manageability concerns as grounds to eliminate juries and directed that complexity be addressed through trial-management measures rather than denial of the jury right.
- Judge Kilkenny dissented, favoring recognition of a limited exception in extreme cases based on fairness and rational decision-making concerns.

## Legal Principles

- The Seventh Amendment preserves the right to a civil jury trial in suits at common law, and that guarantee does not vary with the perceived complexity of the issues.
- Courts may not remove legal claims from juries based solely on an assessment that lay jurors cannot competently decide complex factual questions.
- Case-management tools (e.g., severance, bifurcation, special verdicts/interrogatories, structured presentations, expert testimony, and clear instructions) are the proper means to manage complexity while preserving the jury-trial right.
- Administrative convenience and judicial efficiency cannot override the constitutional right to a jury trial where it otherwise applies.

## Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit held that federal courts cannot strike properly demanded civil jury trials on the ground that consolidated securities litigation is too complex, requiring courts to manage complexity through procedural devices while preserving the Seventh Amendment right.


In re U.S. Fin. Sec. Litig., 609 F.2d 411 (9th Cir. 1979)