Rule 48.Juries of less than 12 — Majority verdict

Rule 48 packs a genuine departure from ordinary civil-jury practice into a single sentence: the parties may stipulate that the jury consist of any number less than 12, and separately, that a verdict or finding of a stated majority of the jurors will be taken as the verdict or finding of the jury. Both are matters of party agreement, not something the Court imposes on its own.

The first half of the rule works alongside Rule 38's default: a Delaware civil jury is already 6 unless a party demands 12. Rule 48 lets the parties stipulate to something smaller still than 6, if they choose to.

The second half addresses unanimity, not size. Ordinarily a jury verdict is the verdict of every juror. Rule 48 lets the parties agree in advance that a stated majority — a number they specify — controls instead, so a verdict can stand even without every juror's agreement, so long as the stipulated majority reaches it.

Because both changes rest on stipulation, neither takes effect unless the parties agree to it; absent a stipulation, the jury proceeds at whatever size Rule 38 and Rule 39 already fix, and its verdict has to be unanimous in the ordinary way.