Jury Trials

Few Texas Family Lawyers Ever Try a Jury Trial. We Do It Regularly.

Most family lawyers spend their entire careers without trying a single jury trial because the majority of divorce and custody cases settle long before they reach a jury. Trying a family law case to a jury requires a voir dire strategy, jury charge drafting, and courtroom experience that few family law attorneys develop.

Walters Gilbreath, PLLC is one of the few Texas family law firms with years of experience, trying multiple jury trials annually. Other family lawyers regularly call our firm for guidance and consulting when they find themselves facing a jury trial for the first time.

If you believe your divorce or custody case may be a good fit for a jury trial, our legal team can walk you through your options. Contact our office to schedule a consultation.

What Is a Jury Trial In a Texas Divorce or Child Custody Case?

In a jury trial, the jury decides some aspects of the case, and the judge chooses others. Juries can make decisions regarding conservatorship (how parents make decisions for their children), geographic restrictions, property valuations and characterizations, reimbursement and fraud claims, and certain torts. Jury trials allow a panel of your peers to make determinations rather than just one person (a judge). Depending on the case, this type of trial may be very advantageous, but to fully utilize these benefits, the lawyers involved must have specialized experience and complete additional work before and during the trial.

Why Choose a Jury Trial

While some lawyers can explain what a jury may decide, few can adequately explain why you may want a judge and jury instead of a single judge. Of course, each case is different, but generally speaking, if a judge ruled against you in temporary orders, mental health professional is against you, relocation is an issue in your case, or separate property is an issue in your case, you may want to have a jury.

• If a Judge Ruled Against You in Temporary Orders

In most jurisdictions in Texas (Travis County and Bexar County being the exceptions), a case is assigned to a single judge, and that judge hears every issue in the case. If you and your spouse have a dispute about child custody at a temporary orders hearing and the judge rules against you, you may be concerned that the judge will produce a similar or identical outcome at the time of final trial.

Our experience is that a jury will be curious as to why a judge made certain rulings at temporary orders and will not be afraid to rule differently than the judge. In contrast, a judge is less likely to rule differently at the time of final trial when they have already formed opinions about the circumstances and parties in the case.

• If a Mental Health Professional is Against You

We frequently hear that mental health professionals, like guardian ad litems or child therapists, simply get cases wrong. Often a judge will appoint a guardian ad litem to advocate the best interest of a child; but instead the guardian does a poor job or won’t do the work necessary to support their position.

In these instances, litigants often worry that the judge that appointed the professional will be hesitant to disagree or rule against them. Juries, on the other hand, tend to examine the opinion and work of mental health professionals and guardian ad litems very closely. Our experience is that a jury will work hard to keep the mental health professionals accountable. If the professional does a poor job or fails to fulfill their duties, the jury may disregard the professional’s testimony.

As mentioned above, a jury can decide what geographic restrictions (if any) may be placed on the child’s residence. Even though one parent may have the right to determine the child’s primary residence, a judge or jury may decide to restrict the region in which that child may live. A typical geographic restriction is that the parent who has the right to determine the primary residence of the child must live in the county (or any surrounding county) in which the case is filed.

This type of restriction can cause a great deal of family conflict because a parent may want, or even need, to move to another area for family support, new relationships, or work. Although these needs are valid, the restrictions judges set to relocation are usually quite strict, and leeway is challenging to achieve without an experienced lawyer.

• If Separate Property is an Issue in Your Case

Juries can determine the character of marital property; if either spouse claims that something is separate property, a jury can determine whether or not that is the case.

Why would you want a jury to determine the character of your property? It is, of course, a case-by-case decision, but when juries characterize property, they must follow the ‘clear and convincing’ burden of proof. If litigants worry that a judge will not rule in their favor on these issues based on other factors in the case, the more formulaic approach juries take may be more favorable.

Jury Trial FAQs

• Can I request a jury trial for my divorce?

Texas is one of the few states that allows jury trials in family law cases. A jury cannot grant the divorce itself, but it can decide issues like property characterization, conservatorship and geographical restrictions.

• What can a jury trial not decide in a custody case?

A jury can decide conservatorship (which parent has the right to make certain decisions for a child) and whether geographical restrictions should apply to where the child primarily resides. A jury cannot decide on a specific possession schedule.

• How much does a jury trial cost compared to a bench trial?

Jury trials generally require more pretrial preparation, which typically increases cost compared to a bench trial.

If you are interested in speaking to our legal team about your potential jury trial case, schedule a consultation or give us a call so we can assist you further.