context: Generally speaking, the right to determine whether a claim will proceed as an admiralty claim (without a jury) or as a common law claim (with a jury) belongs strictly to the plaintiff. That is, if a plaintiff designates his claim as a Rule 9(h) maritime claim, the saving-to-suitors clause does not permit a defendant to trump that designation and demand a jury trial.
citation_a.signal: see
citation_a.identifier: 46 U.S. 461, 461
citation_a.parenthetical: "The saving is for the benefit of suitors, plaintiff and defendant, when the plaintiff in a case of concurrent jurisdiction chooses to sue in the common law courts, so giving to himself and the defendant all the advantages which such tribunals can give to suitors in them. It certainly could not have been intended more for the benefit of the defendant than for the plaintiff, which would be the case if he could at his will force the plaintiff into a common law court .... " (emphasis added
citation_a.sentence: See Waring, 46 U.S. at 461 (“The saving is for the benefit of suitors, plaintiff and defendant, when the plaintiff in a case of concurrent jurisdiction chooses to sue in the common law courts, so giving to himself and the defendant all the advantages which such tribunals can give to suitors in them. It certainly could not have been intended more for the benefit of the defendant than for the plaintiff, which would be the case if he could at his will force the plaintiff into a common law court .... ” (emphasis added)); see also Becker v. Tidewater, Inc., 405 F.3d 257, 259 (5th Cir.2005) (concluding that defendant had no right to a jury trial even though parties were diverse because plaintiff elected to proceed in admiralty). While this principle governs simple proceedings — e.g., proceedings where the defendant does not assert any counterclaims or implead third parties — -there is some dispute about its application to more complex cases.
citation_b.signal: see also
citation_b.identifier: 405 F.3d 257, 259
citation_b.parenthetical: concluding that defendant had no right to a jury trial even though parties were diverse because plaintiff elected to proceed in admiralty
citation_b.sentence: See Waring, 46 U.S. at 461 (“The saving is for the benefit of suitors, plaintiff and defendant, when the plaintiff in a case of concurrent jurisdiction chooses to sue in the common law courts, so giving to himself and the defendant all the advantages which such tribunals can give to suitors in them. It certainly could not have been intended more for the benefit of the defendant than for the plaintiff, which would be the case if he could at his will force the plaintiff into a common law court .... ” (emphasis added)); see also Becker v. Tidewater, Inc., 405 F.3d 257, 259 (5th Cir.2005) (concluding that defendant had no right to a jury trial even though parties were diverse because plaintiff elected to proceed in admiralty). While this principle governs simple proceedings — e.g., proceedings where the defendant does not assert any counterclaims or implead third parties — -there is some dispute about its application to more complex cases.