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court_form | California

EJT-001-INFO - Expedited Jury Trial Information Sheet

  • UIDca_court_forms:ejt-001-info
  • CitationEJT-001-INFO
  • Court / bodyJudicial Branch of California
  • Decision dateN/A
  • CollectionCA_COURT_FORMS
  • SourceOriginal

Summary

Expedited Jury Trial Information Sheet

Text

Form ID: EJT-001-INFO
Title: Expedited Jury Trial Information Sheet
Effective Date: 2016-07-01
Mandatory Form: yes
Info Page: https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/jcc-form/EJT-001-INFO
Primary Download URL: https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/ejt001info.pdf
Form Detail Page:
Expedited Jury Trial Information Sheet
(EJT-001-INFO)
Explains what an expedited jury trial is, when it is required and when parties can choose to use it, and some of the steps in the process.
Get form EJT-001-INFO
Effective: July 1, 2016
PDF Text:
Expedited Jury Trial Information Sheet 
 
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
                       Expedited Jury Trial Information Sheet EJT-001-INFO, Page 1 of 2 
  
EJT-001-INFO 
Judicial Council of California, www.courts.ca.gov 
Revised July 1, 2016, Mandatory Form 
Code of Civil Procedure, § 630.01–630.10 
Cal. Rules of Court, rules 3.1545–3.1553 
 
This information sheet is for anyone involved in a civil 
lawsuit who will be taking part in an expedited jury 
trial—a trial that is shorter and has a smaller jury than a 
traditional jury trial.  
 
You can find the law and rules governing expedited 
jury trials in Code of Civil Procedure sections 
630.01–630.29 and in rules 3.1545–3.1553 of the 
California Rules of Court. You can find these at any 
county law library or online. The statutes are online 
at http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes.xhtml. 
The rules are at www.courts.ca.gov/rules. 
 
 
 
An expedited jury trial is a short trial, generally lasting 
only one or two days. It is intended to be quicker and 
less expensive than a traditional jury trial. 
As in a traditional jury trial, a jury will hear your case 
and will reach a decision about whether one side has to 
pay money to the other side. An expedited jury trial 
differs from a regular jury trial in several important 
ways: 
 The trial will be shorter. Each side has 5 hours to 
pick a jury, put on all its witnesses, show the jury 
its evidence, and argue its case. 
 The jury will be smaller. There will be 8 jurors 
instead of 12.  
 Choosing the jury will be faster. The parties will 
exercise fewer challenges.  
 
 
 
 Mandatory expedited jury trials. All limited civil 
cases—cases where the demand for damages or the 
value of property at issue is $25,000 or less—come 
within the mandatory expedited jury trial 
procedures. These can be found in the Code of 
Civil Procedure, starting at section 630.20. Unless 
your case is an unlawful detainer (eviction) action, 
or meets one of the exceptions set out in the statute, 
it will be within the expedited jury trial procedures.  
These exceptions are explained more in        below. 
 Voluntary expedited jury trials. If your civil 
case is not a limited civil case, or even if it is, 
you can choose to take part in a voluntary 
expedited jury trial, if all the parties agree to do 
so. Voluntary expedited jury trials have the same 
shorter time frame and smaller jury that the 
mandatory ones do, but have one other 
important aspect— all parties must waive their 
rights to appeal. In order to help keep down the 
costs of litigation, there are no appeals following 
a voluntary expedited jury trial except in very 
limited circumstances. These are explained more 
fully in       . .  
 
 
 
 
The trial will take place at a courthouse and a judge, or, 
if you agree, a temporary judge (a court commissioner or  
an experienced attorney that the court appoints to act as 
a judge) will handle the trial.   
 
  
 
 
No. Just as in a traditional civil jury trial, only three-
quarters of the jury must agree in order to reach a 
decision in an expedited jury trial. With 8 people on the 
jury, that means that at least 6 of the jurors must agree 
on the verdict in an expedited jury trial. 
 
 
 
 
Generally, yes, but not always. A verdict from a jury in 
an expedited jury trial is like a verdict in a traditional 
jury trial. The court will enter a judgment based on the 
verdict, the jury’s decision that one or more defendants 
will pay money to the plaintiff or that the plaintiff gets 
no money at all.   
But parties in an expedited jury trial, like in other kinds 
of trials, are allowed to make an agreement before the 
trial that guarantees that the defendant will pay a certain 
amount to the plaintiff even if the jury decides on a 
lower payment or no payment. That agreement may also 
put a cap on the highest amount that a defendant has to 
pay, even if the jury decides on a higher amount. These 
agreements are known as “high/low agreements.” You 
should discuss with your attorney whether you should 
enter into such an agreement in your case and how it will 
affect you
. 
 
 
 
 
The goal of the expedited jury trial process is to have 
shorter and less expensive trials.  
 The cases that come within the mandatory expedited 
jury trial procedures are all limited civil actions, and 
they must proceed under the limited discovery and 
What is an expedited jury trial? Does the jury have to reach a 
unanimous decision? 
1 
Will the case be in front of a judge? 3
4
Is the decision of the jury binding 
on the parties? 
5
How else is an expedited jury trial 
different? 
6
What cases have expedited jury trials? 2 
7
9

Expedited Jury Trial Information Sheet 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______ 
_____________________________________________________________________________ 
Revised July 1, 2016                       Expedited Jury Trial Information Sheet EJT-001-INFO, Page 2 of 2 
 
EJT-001-INFO 
pretrial rules that apply to those actions. See Code of 
Civil Procedure sections 90–100. 
 The voluntary expedited jury trial rules set up some 
special procedures to help those cases have shorter 
and less expensive trials. For example, the rules 
require that several weeks before the trial takes 
place, the parties show each other all exhibits and 
tell each other what witnesses will be at the trial. In 
addition, the judge will meet with the attorneys 
before the trial to work out some things in advance. 
The other big difference is that the parties in either kind 
of expedited jury trial can make agreements about how 
the case will be tried so that it can be tried quickly and 
effectively. These agreements may include what rules 
will apply to the case, how many witnesses can testify 
for each side, what kind of evidence may be used, and 
what facts the parties already agree to and so do not need 
the jury to decide. The parties can agree to modify many 
of the rules that apply to trials generally or to any 
pretrial aspect of the expedited jury trials.    
 
 
 
Not always.  There are some exceptions.   
 The mandatory expedited jury trial procedures do 
not apply to any unlawful detainer or eviction case.  
 Any party may ask to opt out of the procedures if the 
case meets any of the criteria set out in Code of Civil 
Procedure section 630.20(b), all of which are also 
described in item 2 of the Request to Opt Out of 
Mandatory Expedited Jury Trial (form EJT-003). 
Any request to opt out must be made on that form, 
and it must be made within a certain time period, as 
set out in Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1546(c). Any 
opposition must be filed within 15 days after the 
request has been served. 
The remainder of this information sheet applies only to 
voluntary expedited jury trials. 
 
 
 
 
The process can be used in any civil case that the parties 
agree may be tried in one or two days. To have a 
voluntary expedited jury trial, both sides must want one. 
Each side must agree to all the rules described in        , 
and to waive most appeal rights. The agreements 
between the parties must be put into writing in a 
document called [Proposed] Consent Order for 
Voluntary Expedited Jury Trial, which will be submitted 
to the court for approval. (Form EJT-020 may be used 
for this.) The court must issue the consent order as 
proposed by the parties unless the court finds good cause 
why the action should not proceed through the expedited 
jury trial process. 
 
 
  
 
 
 
To keep costs down and provide a faster end to the case, 
all parties who agree to take part in a voluntary 
expedited jury trial must agree to waive the right to 
appeal the jury verdict or decisions by the judicial officer 
concerning the trial unless one of the following happens: 
 Misconduct of the judicial officer that materially 
affected substantial rights of a party; 
 Misconduct of the jury; or 
 Corruption or fraud or some other bad act  
that prevented a fair trial. 
In addition, parties may not ask the judge to set the jury 
verdict aside, except on those same grounds. Neither you 
nor the other side will be able to ask for a new trial on 
the grounds that the jury verdict was too high or too low, 
that legal mistakes were made before or during the trial, 
or that new evidence was found later.   
 
 
  
 
No, unless the other side or the court agrees. Once you 
and the other side have agreed to take part in a voluntary 
expedited jury trial, that agreement is binding on both 
sides. It can be changed only if both sides want to 
change it or stop the process or if a court decides there 
are good reasons the voluntary expedited jury trial 
should not be used in the case. This is why it is 
important to talk to your attorney before agreeing to a 
voluntary expedited jury trial. This information sheet 
does not cover everything you may need to know about 
voluntary expedited jury trials. It only gives you an 
overview of the process and how it may affect your 
rights. You should discuss all the points covered here 
and any questions you have about expedited jury 
trials with an attorney before agreeing to a voluntary 
expedited jury trial. 
 
Can I change my mind after agreeing 
to a voluntary expedited jury trial? 
 10
Why do I give up most of my rights 
to an appeal in a voluntary 
expedited jury trial? 
7 
  9
Do I have to have an expedited jury  
trial if my case is for $25,000 or less?
Who can take part in a voluntary 
expedited jury trial? 
8 
1

Retrieval chunks

  • #1

    Form ID: EJT-001-INFO Title: Expedited Jury Trial Information Sheet Effective Date: 2016-07-01 Mandatory Form: yes Info Page: https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/jcc-form/EJT-001-INFO Primary Download URL: https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/ejt001info.pdf Form Detail Page: Expedited Jury Trial Information Sheet (E…

  • #2

    Civil Procedure, starting at section 630.20. Unless your case is an unlawful detainer (eviction) action, or meets one of the exceptions set out in the statute, it will be within the expedited jury trial procedures. These exceptions are explained more in below.  Voluntary expedited jury trials. If your civ…

  • #3

    they must proceed under the limited discovery and What is an expedited jury trial? Does the jury have to reach a unanimous decision? 1 Will the case be in front of a judge? 3 4 Is the decision of the jury binding on the parties? 5 How else is an expedited jury trial different? 6 What cases have expedited j…

  • #4

    voluntary expedited jury trials. The process can be used in any civil case that the parties agree may be tried in one or two days. To have a voluntary expedited jury trial, both sides must want one. Each side must agree to all the rules described in , and to waive most appeal rights. The agreements betwee…

  • #5

    to an appeal in a voluntary expedited jury trial? 7 9 Do I have to have an expedited jury trial if my case is for $25,000 or less? Who can take part in a voluntary expedited jury trial? 8 1