Rule 55-I.Withdrawal of Jury Demand After Default

Rule 55-I solves a narrow but practical problem. Once a default is entered against a party for failing to plead or defend, the case can still need a hearing on damages or other remaining issues under Rule 55(b)(2). If the non-defaulting party had earlier demanded a jury trial, it would otherwise be stuck assembling a jury for a proceeding the other side is not contesting. Rule 55-I answers this in a single sentence: once a default is entered, the opposing party may withdraw its own jury demand.

The rule is deliberately narrow in what it changes. It does not touch the defaulted party's position — a party that has failed to answer has already given up the chance to contest liability, and a default by itself does not decide how any remaining damages issues get tried. What Rule 55-I adds is a choice for the party that is not in default: rather than being locked into the jury trial it originally requested under Rule 38, that party can elect to proceed before the court alone, which is often quicker once the other side is out of the case.

Rule 55-I has no counterpart in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure — it is one of the District's own local additions, inserted into the numbering sequence right after Rule 55. The 2017 amendment made only stylistic changes to bring its wording in line with the 2007 restyling of the federal rules; it did not change what the rule allows.