Why Twelve Jurors Matter for Civil Trials

As society, and the civil justice system, plan a return to more normal operations as the pandemic recedes, Judges Patrick Higginbotham and Lee Rosenthal, and Professor Steven Gensler, have written a perusasive article in Judicature about the importance of 12-person juries in civil cases: “Over the last 40-plus years, the 12- person civil jury has gone from being a fixture in the federal courts to a relative rarity. We should all be concerned. That the Supreme Court has allowed us to use smaller juries does not require us to use them. We can use 12-person juries. The benefits are large; the disadvantages marginal. We’re not suggesting this as a rule or a requirement. We are simply suggesting that judges not reflexively pick six, or eight, or even ten, and instead  remember their authority to seat 12. And the great benefits of doing so.”