Last amended December 1, 2009 · Last verified June 30, 2026
In one sentenceRule 38 preserves the constitutional right to a jury trial and sets the procedure to claim it: a party must serve a written jury demand no later than 14 days after the last pleading directed to the issue, and file it, or the right is waived.
(a)Right Preserved. The right of trial by jury as declared by the Seventh Amendment to the Constitution—or as provided by a federal statute—is preserved to the parties inviolate.
(b)Demand. On any issue triable of right by a jury, a party may demand a jury trial by:
(1)serving the other parties with a written demand—which may be included in a pleading—no later than 14 days after the last pleading directed to the issue is served; and
(2)filing the demand in accordance with Rule 5(d).
(c)Specifying Issues. In its demand, a party may specify the issues that it wishes to have tried by a jury; otherwise, it is considered to have demanded a jury trial on all the issues so triable. If the party has demanded a jury trial on only some issues, any other party may—within 14 days after being served with the demand or within a shorter time ordered by the court—serve a demand for a jury trial on any other or all factual issues triable by jury.
(d)Waiver; Withdrawal. A party waives a jury trial unless its demand is properly served and filed. A proper demand may be withdrawn only if the parties consent.
(e)Admiralty and Maritime Claims. These rules do not create a right to a jury trial on issues in a claim that is an admiralty or maritime claim under Rule 9(h).
End
Amendment History
(Amended February 28, 1966, effective July 1, 1966; March 2, 1987, effective August 1, 1987; April 22, 1993, effective December 1, 1993; April 30, 2007, effective December 1, 2007; March 26, 2009, effective December 1, 2009.)
Plain-English Summary
Rule 38 protects the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial and tells litigants how to invoke it. The right is preserved as it existed when the rules took effect, but it is not self-executing — a party has to ask for it on time.
To demand a jury, a party serves the other parties with a written demand no later than 14 days after the last pleading directed to the issue to be tried, and then files the demand. The demand may be limited to specified issues; otherwise it is treated as a demand on all issues triable by jury. A party that does not serve and file a timely demand waives a jury trial, and once made, a proper demand can be withdrawn only with the consent of all parties.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you demand a jury trial in federal court?
Serve the other parties with a written jury demand within 14 days after the last pleading on the issue, and file it with the court (Rule 38(b)).
What happens if you miss the jury-demand deadline?
Failing to serve and file a timely demand waives the right to a jury trial on those issues (Rule 38(d)).
Source & verification. The rule text and amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the
official Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Fed. R. Civ. P. 38), a public-domain work of the U.S. Government.
Prescribed by the United States Supreme Court under the Rules Enabling Act. The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified June 30, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as:FRCP 38Fed. R. Civ. P. 38right to a jury trialjury demand14 days jury demandwaiver of jury trial