Ex parte North American Adjusters, Inc., [Ms. 1150278, Apr. 22, 2016] __ So. 3d __ (Ala. 2016). “[P]ublic policy, the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, and the Alabama Constitution all express a preference for trial by jury.” Ms. at *4, quoting Ex parte AIG Baker Orange Beach Wharf, L.L.C., 49 So. 3d 1198, 1200-01 (Ala. 2010). Rule 38, Ala. R. Civ. P., establishes the procedure for invoking the right to a trial by jury. The requirements include “(1) that the jury demand, which may be endorsed upon the pleading, must be in writing, and (2) that the jury demand, to be timely, must be made ‘at any time after the commencement of the action,’ but no later than ‘thirty (30) days after the service of the last pleading directed to such issue.’” Ms. at *6. “Nothing in Rule 38(b) requires that an endorsement of a jury demand on a complaint be signed. Rather, Rule 38(b) requires only that the demand be in writing and that it be timely served.”
“Once the requirements of Rule 38(b) are met, a party may not withdraw a jury demand without the consent of the parties pursuant to Rule 38(d) ‘except where an opposing party is in default under Rule 55(a), Ala. R. Civ. P.’”
Related Documents: Ex parte North American Adjusters 4-22-16