California Strikes Pre-Dispute Jury Waivers

Contractual pre-dispute waivers of jury trials are not effective in California, according to a recent ruling by the state supreme court in Grafton Partners, L.P. v PriceWaterHouseCoopers L.L.P. (August 5, 2005).

Parties can agree in advance to arbitration, said the court, but they cannot agree in advance to have their case tried by a judge instead of a jury.  What is striking is that this is not a consumer case, but one between sophisticated business entities.  Christopher R. Ball and John M. Grenfell of New York’s Pillsbury Winthrop offer a brief report on the case.

[Frank Snyder]