Beacon Theatres, Inc. v. Westover, 359 U.S. 500 (1959), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States dealing with jury trials in civil matters. The court held that where legal and equitable claims are joined in the same action, the legal claims must be tried by a jury before the equitable claims can be resolved.[1]
Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute summarized it like this:[2]
In Beacon Theatres v. Westover, the Court held that a district court erred in trying all issues itself in an action in which the plaintiff sought a declaratory judgment and an injunction barring the defendant from instituting an antitrust action against it, and the defendant had filed a counterclaim alleging violation of the antitrust laws and asking for treble damages. It did not matter, the Court ruled, that the equitable claims had been filed first and the law counterclaims involved allegations common to the equitable claims. Subsequent jury trial of these issues would probably be precluded by collateral estoppel, hence "only under the most imperative circumstances which in view of the flexible procedures of the Federal Rules we cannot now anticipate, can the right to a jury trial of legal issues be lost through prior determination of equitable claims."
The question was whether the exclusive agreement of Fox Theatres with the distributor Westover for first-run movies was reasonable.
beacon, theatres, westover, 1959, case, decided, supreme, court, united, states, dealing, with, jury, trials, civil, matters, court, held, that, where, legal, equitable, claims, joined, same, action, legal, claims, must, tried, jury, before, equitable, claims,. Beacon Theatres Inc v Westover 359 U S 500 1959 was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States dealing with jury trials in civil matters The court held that where legal and equitable claims are joined in the same action the legal claims must be tried by a jury before the equitable claims can be resolved 1 Beacon Theatres v WestoverSupreme Court of the United StatesArgued December 10 1958Decided May 25 1959Full case nameBeacon Theatres Incorporated v Westover United States District Judge et al Citations359 U S 500 more 79 S Ct 948 3 L Ed 2d 988 1959 U S LEXIS 1934 2 Fed R Serv 2d Callaghan 650Case historyPriorCertiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 252 F 2d 864 9th Cir 1958 HoldingOnly under the most imperative circumstances can right to jury trial of legal issues be lost through prior determination of equitable claims Court membershipChief Justice Earl Warren Associate Justices Hugo Black Felix FrankfurterWilliam O Douglas Tom C ClarkJohn M Harlan II William J Brennan Jr Charles E Whittaker Potter StewartCase opinionsMajorityBlack joined by Warren Douglas Clark BrennanDissentStewart joined by Harlan WhittakerFrankfurter took no part in the consideration or decision of the case Laws appliedU S Const amend VIICornell Law School s Legal Information Institute summarized it like this 2 In Beacon Theatres v Westover the Court held that a district court erred in trying all issues itself in an action in which the plaintiff sought a declaratory judgment and an injunction barring the defendant from instituting an antitrust action against it and the defendant had filed a counterclaim alleging violation of the antitrust laws and asking for treble damages It did not matter the Court ruled that the equitable claims had been filed first and the law counterclaims involved allegations common to the equitable claims Subsequent jury trial of these issues would probably be precluded by collateral estoppel hence only under the most imperative circumstances which in view of the flexible procedures of the Federal Rules we cannot now anticipate can the right to a jury trial of legal issues be lost through prior determination of equitable claims The question was whether the exclusive agreement of Fox Theatres with the distributor Westover for first run movies was reasonable See also editList of United States Supreme Court cases volume 359 Fox Theatres Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution Galloway v United States Dairy Queen Inc v Wood 369 U S 469 Ross v BerhardReferences edit Beacon Theatres Inc v Westover 359 U S 500 1959 Mixed Cases External links edit nbsp Works related to Beacon Theaters Inc v Westover at Wikisource Text of Beacon Theatres v Westover 359 U S 500 1959 is available from Findlaw Google Scholar Justia Library of Congress Oyez oral argument audio nbsp This article related to the Supreme Court of the United States is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Beacon Theatres Inc v Westover amp oldid 1175138966, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
