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47 S. Tex. L. Rev. 191 (2005-2006)
The Decline in Jury Trials: What Would Wal-Mart Do

handle is hein.journals/stexlr47 and id is 205 raw text is: THE DECLINE IN JURY TRIALS: WHAT WOULD WAL-MART Do? JUSTICE SCOTT BRISTER* I. INTROD U CTION ............................................................................ 191 II. T H E M A RKET ............................................................................... 193 A . D ecline A broad ..................................................................... 193 B. Domestic Competition .......................................................... 194 C. G lobal Challenges ................................................................. 195 III. T HE PROD U cT ............................................................................. 196 A . Jurors' V erdicts ..................................................................... 197 B . Jurors' L im its ........................................................................ 200 C. Jurors'B enefits ...................................................................... 203 IV . T H E PRICE .................................................................................... 207 A . Costs to Taxpayers ................................................................ 208 B . C osts to Jurors ....................................................................... 209 C. Costs to L itigants ................................................................... 209 D . C ost v. P rice ........................................................................... 211 V . THE INTANGIBLES ....................................................................... 212 A. Juries and Freedom ............................................................... 212 B . Juries and Faith ..................................................................... 215 V I. THE FUTU RE ................................................................................ 219 V II. C ONCLU SION ................................................................................ 222 I. INTRODUCTION Civil jury trials are declining.' Despite growing numbers of judges, pending cases, and dispositions, the civil jury system in the * Justice, Supreme Court of Texas; J.D., Harvard Law School; B.A., Duke University. 1. Marc Galanter, The Vanishing Trial: An Examination of Trials and Related Matters in Federal and State Courts, 1 J. EMPIRICAL LEGAL STUD. 459, 459 (2004); Valerie P. Hans & Stephanie Albertson, Empirical Research and Civil Jury Reform, 78 NOTRE DAME L. REV. 1497, 1503-04 (2003); Graham C. Lilly, The Decline of the American Jury, 72 U. COLO. L. REV. 53, 60 (2001); Brian J. Ostrom et al., Examining Trial Trends in State Courts: 1976-2002, 1 J. EMPIRICAL LEGAL STUD. 755, 755 (2004) (We find that despite substantial growth in the number of case dispositions, there has been a decrease, often significant, in the use of trials by state courts.); Kent D. Syverud, ADR and the Decline of the American Civil Jury, 44 UCLA L. REV. 1935, 1935 (1997).

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