Law Commons^™

Catch-22 Of Mandatory Summary Jury Trials, The, Daniel K. O'Toole

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Since its inception nearly ten years ago, the summary jury trial has received almost unanimous acclaim as an extremely effective means of inducing settlement and avoiding protracted litigation.' The settlement technique continued to be used with virtually no opposition2 until some courts began using the summary jury trial as a mandatory settlement mechanism. 3 Within the federal court system, a split of authority has developed as to the permissibility of a trial judge imposing a summary jury trial settlement procedure on litigants.4 Strandell v. Jackson County, Ill.5 and McKay v. Ashland Oil, Inc.6 are two of the more recent cases …