How Cases Move Through Federal Courts
Civil Cases
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Bench trials
If the parties agree not to have a jury trial and to leave the fact-finding to the judge, the trial is called a bench trial. In either kind of trial, the judge makes sure the correct legal standards are followed. In contrast to a jury trial, in a bench trial the judge decides the facts and renders the verdict. For example, in a discrimination case in which the plaintiff alleged that his or her workplace was a hostile environment, the judge would determine the legal standard for a hostile environment and would then decide whether the plaintiff’s description of events was true and whether those events met the legal standard.
Some kinds of cases always have bench trials. For example, there is never a jury trial if the plaintiff is seeking an injunction, an order from the judge that the defendant do or stop doing something, rather than money damages. Some statutes also provide that a judge must decide the facts in certain types of cases.
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