Opinion ID: 1889642
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the right to a jury trial in civil cases

Text: [¶ 7] A party's right to a jury trial in civil matters may be founded in statute or in the Maine Constitution. [2] The Legislature has not provided a statutory right to a trial by jury that would apply to this case. [3] Spence and Perkins must therefore look to the constitution for the right to have their case tried to a jury. The constitution provides: In all civil suits . . . the parties shall have a right to a trial by jury, except in cases where it has heretofore been otherwise practiced. Me. Const. art. I, § 20. [¶ 8] When a new cause of action, unknown at the time the constitution was adopted, is created by the Legislature or recognized by the court, the right to a jury trial will depend on the nature of that new cause of action. If the nature of the claim is such that its pre-1820 analogue was not tried to a jury the new cause of action will similarly carry no such right. City of Portland v. DePaolo, 531 A.2d 669, 671 (Me.1987); see also Portland Pipe Line Corp. v. Environmental Improvement Comm'n, 307 A.2d 1, 29 (Me.1973) (When the new cause of action includes features that render it equitable in nature, there is no requirement of a jury trial as a matter of right.); accord Thompson v. Pendleton, 1997 ME 127, ¶ 10, 697 A.2d 56, 58; Kennebec Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. Kueter, 1997 ME 123, ¶ 4, 695 A.2d 1201, 1202; Town of Falmouth v. Long, 578 A.2d 1168, 1172 (Me.1990). On the other hand, when `a plaintiff seeks damages as full compensation for an injury, the claim is legal and the plaintiff is entitled to a jury trial.' DesMarais v. Desjardins, 664 A.2d 840, 844 (Me.1995) (quoting King v. King, 507 A.2d 1057, 1059 (Me.1986)). [¶ 9] Accordingly, when a court is called upon to determine whether a right to a jury trial attaches to a new cause of action, it is required to determine the nature of the cause of action, identify a pre-1820 analogue to that cause of action, and determine the treatment of that analogue prior to 1820. [¶ 10] We must therefore determine, first, the nature of an action for contribution, specifically, the nature of the issues to be tried and the remedy sought, see Cyr v. Cote, 396 A.2d 1013, 1016 (Me.1979), quoted in DesMarais, 664 A.2d at 844; second, the applicable pre-1820 analogues; and finally, whether the analogues were triable of right to a jury prior to the adoption of the constitution.