Rule 2.508 – Jury Trial of Right

May 13, 2021 | Civil Procedure, Michigan

(A) Right Preserved. The right of trial by jury as declared by the constitution must be preserved to the parties inviolate.
(B) Demand for Jury.

(1) A party may demand a trial by jury of an issue as to which there is a right to trial by jury by filing a written demand for a jury trial within 28 days after the filing of the answer or a timely reply. The demand for jury must be filed as a separate document. The jury fee provided by law must be paid at the time the demand is filed.
(2) If a party appealing to the circuit court from a municipal court desires a trial by jury of an issue triable of right, demand for jury must be included in the claim of appeal. If another party desires trial by jury of an issue triable of right, the demand must be included in the party’s notice of appearance.
(3)

(a) If a case is entirely removed from circuit court to district court, or is entirely removed or transferred from district court to circuit court, a timely demand for a trial by jury in the court from which the case is removed or transferred remains effective in the court to which the case is removed or transferred. If a case is entirely removed or transferred from district court to circuit court, and if the amount paid to the district court for the jury fee is less than the circuit court jury fee, then the party requesting the jury shall pay the difference to the circuit court. If a case is entirely removed from circuit court to district court, no additional jury fee is to be paid to the district court nor is there to be a refund of any amount by which the circuit court jury fee exceeds the district court jury fee.
(b) If part of a case is removed from circuit court to district court, or part of a case is removed or transferred from district court to circuit court, but a portion of the case remains in the court from which the case is removed or transferred, then a demand for a trial by jury in the court from which the case is removed or transferred is not effective in the court to which the case is removed or transferred. A party who seeks a trial by jury in the court to which the case is partially removed or transferred must file a written demand for a trial by jury within 21 days of the removal or transfer order, and must pay the jury fee provided by law, even if the jury fee was paid in the court from which the case is removed or transferred.
(c) The absence of a timely demand for a trial by jury in the court from which a case is entirely or partially removed or transferred does not preclude filing a demand for a trial by jury in the court to which the case is removed or transferred. A party who seeks a trial by jury in the court to which the case is removed or transferred must file a written demand for a trial by jury within 21 days of the removal or transfer order, and must pay the jury fee provided by law.
(d) A party who is added to a case after it has been removed or transferred may demand trial by jury in accordance with paragraph (B)(1).
(C) Specifications of Issues.

(1) In a demand for jury trial, a party may specify the issues the party wishes so tried; otherwise, the party is deemed to have demanded trial by jury of all the issues so triable.
(2) If a party has demanded trial by jury of only some of the issues, another party, within 14 days after service of a copy of the demand or within less time as the court may order, may serve a demand for trial by jury of another or all the issues of fact in the action.
(D) Waiver; Withdrawal.

(1) A party who fails to file a demand or pay the jury fee as required by this rule waives trial by jury.
(2) Waiver of trial by jury is not revoked by an amendment of a pleading asserting only a claim or defense arising out of the conduct, transaction, or occurrence stated, or attempted to be stated, in the original pleading.
(3) A demand for trial by jury may not be withdrawn without the consent, expressed in writing or on the record, of the parties or their attorneys.

Mich. R. Civil. Proc. 2.508

Amended March 20, 2019, effective May 1, 2019.