HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT: THE “VANISHING TRIAL”, A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE JURY TRIAL DECLINE IN THE UNITED STATES

Abstract

Research shows that jury trials are declining in the United States at a rapid rate. Today, about 90% of civil cases and 98% of criminal cases settle before getting to court. Scholars call this phenomenon the “Vanishing Trial” and are seemingly quite alarmed by this decline. But do the lawyers, the ones actually practicing law, feel alarmed by this as well? This thesis draws on qualitative research through in-depth interviews with prosecutors, plaintiffs’ lawyers, and civil and criminal defense counsel in the Northeast United States to determine if this “crisis” is felt on the ground or if it is primarily restricted to those who take a more theoretical view of the matter. Key findings from this study include a stark lack of knowledge on jury trial decline from the lawyers themselves, an importance of the role of juries despite such infrequency, and a very diverse perspective from scholars vs. the lawyers on this matter due to different criteria to assess this phenomenon in the legal world.