38.01 Right Preserved. The right of trial by jury as declared by the Constitution or existing laws of the state of Tennessee shall be preserved to the parties inviolate.
Rule 38.Jury Trial of Right
Last verified July 2, 2026
In one sentenceRule 38 preserves whatever right to a jury trial already exists under the Tennessee Constitution or other law, requires a party to demand a jury in a pleading or by a written demand filed within 15 days after the last pleading raising a factual issue, and treats a missed deadline as a waiver of that right.
Full Text of Rule 38
38.02 Demand. Any party may demand a trial by jury of any issue triable of right by jury by demanding the same in any pleading specified in Rule 7.01 or by endorsing the demand upon such pleading when it is filed, or by written demand filed with the clerk, with notice to all parties, within fifteen (15) days after the service of the last pleading raising an issue of fact.
38.03 Demand -- Cases Removed to Trial Court. In cases removed by appeal or otherwise to the chancery or circuit courts or to courts of similar jurisdiction, any party may demand a trial by jury of any issue triable of right by jury by filing written demand for jury trial within ten (10) days after the papers are filed with the clerk. If such a case is set for trial within ten (10) days after the papers are filed with the clerk, any party may make demand for jury trial when the case is called for trial. In every case removed to the chancery or circuit courts or to courts of similar jurisdiction the clerk shall promptly give notice to the appellee of the filing of the papers.
38.04 Demand -- Specification of Issues. In the demand a party may specify the issues which the party wishes so tried; otherwise the party shall be deemed to have demanded trial by jury of all the issues so triable. If the party has demanded trial by jury of only some of the issues, any other party within fifteen (15) days after service of the demand or such lesser time as the court may order, may serve a demand for trial by jury of any other or all of the issues of fact in the action. Nothing in this section limits or qualifies the rights granted in Rule 38.02.
38.05 Waiver. The failure of a party to make demand as required by this rule constitutes a waiver by the party of trial by jury. A demand for trial by jury as herein provided may not be withdrawn without the consent of all parties as to whom issues have been joined.
Advisory Commission Comments
Plain-English Summary
Rule 38.01 does not create a right to a jury trial; it preserves whatever right already exists. That distinction matters because Tennessee’s constitutional jury guarantee tracks the right as it existed at common law, which historically reached claims for legal relief but not suits in equity — a boundary a separate statute has broadened by extending jury trials into many equity cases, with an exception for complicated accounting matters. Because the equity extension comes from a statute rather than the constitution, a jury impaneled under it renders a binding verdict, not merely an advisory one.
Rule 38.02 sets the mechanics: a party demands a jury either in a pleading listed under Rule 7.01, by endorsing the demand on that pleading, or through a separate written demand filed with the clerk and served on every party, within 15 days after the last pleading raising an issue of fact — ordinarily the answer. Missing that window waives the right, a real consequence given that the underlying right is constitutional. Rule 38.03 sets a shorter, 10-day window for cases that reach circuit or chancery court by appeal from a court without jury authority, most often an appeal from general sessions court, and requires the clerk to notify the appellee once the appeal papers are filed so the appellee has a fair chance to make its own demand.
Rule 38.04 lets a party limit its demand to specific issues; if it does, any other party gets 15 more days to demand a jury on the remaining issues. Say nothing about which issues, and the demanding party is treated as having demanded a jury on everything triable by right. Rule 38.05 makes the consequence of missing the deadline explicit — waiver — and requires every party who has joined issue to consent before a jury demand already made can be withdrawn.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to demand a jury trial in a Tennessee civil case?
15 days after the last pleading that raises an issue of fact is served — usually the answer. Rule 38.02 lets you demand a jury in that pleading itself, by endorsing the pleading, or through a separate written demand filed with the clerk and served on the other parties.
What happens if I miss the deadline to demand a jury?
Rule 38.05 treats a missed deadline as a waiver of the right to a jury trial on the issues you could have demanded, since the right is not automatic under the rule — it has to be affirmatively claimed within the time set.
Does Rule 38 apply to a case appealed from general sessions court?
Yes, but on a faster schedule. Rule 38.03 gives a party only 10 days after the appeal papers are filed with the circuit or chancery court clerk to demand a jury trial, and the clerk must promptly notify the appellee once those papers are filed.
Source & verification. The rule text and Advisory Commission Comments are reproduced verbatim from the
official Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure (Tenn. R. Civ. P. 38). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Tennessee (Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 16-3-402 to 16-3-407, 16-3-601). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 2, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: jury demandright to jury trialwaiver of jury trial
Advisory Commission Comments.
38.01: The procedures described in this Rule for demanding a trial by jury were not intended or designed to abridge any constitutional or statutory right to jury trial, the Committee deeming such rights to be a matter of substantive law and not merely procedural.
38.03: The provisions of this Rule apply to cases appealed to the circuit or chancery courts. Appeals from courts of general sessions to the circuit court are the most numerous cases affected by this Rule. The last sentence of this Rule expressly provides for notice to the appellee of the filing of the papers with the clerk of the chancery or circuit court, so that the appellee shall be afforded an opportunity to make a jury demand if the appellee so desires. Since the appellant has perfected the appeal, it should be obligatory upon the appellant to ascertain when the papers have been filed with the clerk of the circuit court. The provisions of Rule 39.02, however, permit a court to allow a jury trial, in its discretion, even where the parties have failed to make a timely demand.