TriCoast Builders, Inc. v. Fonnegra

Summary

The court held that relief from a statutory jury waiver is committed to the trial court’s discretion and is not automatically required whenever a jury trial would cause no hardship. It also held that when a party validly waived a jury, challenges the denial of relief for the first time on appeal from the judgment, and seeks reversal, the party must show actual prejudice rather than relying on presumed prejudice. Because TriCoast identified only unrecoverable preparation costs and did not show prejudice affecting the fairness of its bench trial, the court affirmed.