§ 154.026.Summary Jury Trial

The one procedure in this subchapter that uses jurors.

The forum is for early case evaluation and development of realistic settlement negotiations.

Each party and counsel present the party’s position before a panel of jurors. The presentation is a summary, which is where the procedure gets its name.

The panel is six jurors unless the parties agree otherwise.

An advisory opinion may follow the presentations, addressing liability or damages or both.

The opinion is not binding.

The reason to use it is the audience. Lawyers and neutrals evaluate a case professionally; a jury panel shows how ordinary people receive the same evidence, which is the question a trial will answer.

It is the most expensive of these procedures, which is why it appears in large cases where the parties disagree about what a jury would do.

The jurors are hearing a summary, not a trial. The presentations are compressed, which is what makes the procedure affordable enough to use before the real trial.

The parties can change the panel size by agreement. Six is the statutory default, and nothing requires it.

What comes out is information about reception. An advisory verdict tells both sides how ordinary people weighed the evidence, which is the fact most often in dispute when a case will not settle.