Intro to Law, pg 56-58

E. The Merger of Law and Equity

• The dual system of equity and common law was complex, confusing and obnoxious- so obnoxious that even the lawyers didn't like it.
• The same wave of reform that putatively abolished forms of action also unified the jurisdiction of courts in England and America. David Dudley Field's Code of Civil Procedure in 1848 put together a single mode of pleading and procedure that was adopted by New York and then California and most of the other states.
• But like forms of action, the merger was more putative than anything else. The relief given under each system is still different; and people still must prove that remedy at law is inadequate in order to gain inequitable relief.
• "When equitable relief is sought, there is no right to a jury trial." Federal law provides the right for a jury trial in common law cases only, while equity is left up to the states, who usually dismiss jury trials as too expensive.
• "The continuing significance of the distinction between law and equity is emphasized by cases in which the legislature has created a new statutory remedy, and the courts are asked to determine whether a person claiming relief under the statute is entitled to a jury trial." For example, you have a right to a trial when acting for damages for housing discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
• "Often this mode of analysis leads to inconclusive results, and the final determination whether the remedy gives rise to a right to jury trial turns on the solicitude of particular courts for jury trials as a matter of social policy."