Jury Trial Waiver

A 2018 Court of Civil Appeals case, Home Vest Capital, LLC v. Retirement Application Services, Inc., et al., hled that a customer's contractual waiver of a jury trial was void under the state Constitution, at least in the circumstances presented.

In Rollings v. Thermodyne Industries, Inc., 910 P.2d 1030 (Okla. 1996), the Oklahoma Supreme Court held that a private agreement to submit future disputes to arbitration under the Uniform Arbitration Act was not unconstitutional. In the process, the Court appeared to reject the amicus argument that agreeing to submit a claim to arbitration unconstitutionally waived the right to a jury trial. Id. at 1031 n.1. However, this case primarily addressed another constitutional provision and expressly relied on the applicability of Oklahoma's Uniform Arbitration Act.

At least one justice has repeatedly argued that a promissory waiver of a jury in future disputes is an unconstitutional violation of article 23, section 8. E.g. ,Rollings, 910 P.2d at 1037 & n.7 (Opala, J., concurring in result) ("Oklahoma's fundamental law condemns contractual provisions that exact promissory waivers of constitutionally safeguarded access to the courts") (footnote omitted); Massey v. Farmers Ins. Group, 837 P.2d 880, 890 & n.28 (Okla. 1992) (Opala, C.J., concurring in result) (citing additional cases). Once a case is filed, the parties in a contract action may waive trial by jury in writing or orally in open court. Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 591.