Tenant Gave Up Right to Jury Trial

A lease clause said that both parties waived their right to a jury trial. When the lease ended, the tenant neither exercised its renewal option nor moved out, so the owner sued to get back the space. The tenant requested a jury trial, and the owner objected, citing the jury trial waiver clause. The court ordered a non-jury trial to be held and ruled that the tenant had to move out. The tenant appealed, requesting a new trial with a jury.

A District of Columbia appeals court ruled that the tenant was bound by the jury trial waiver clause and ordered the tenant to move out of the space. The court said that the jury trial waiver clause wasn't “unfair.” It wasn't buried in the “fine print” but was in the same size type as the rest of the lease and under the caption, “Jury Trial,” the court said. Also, the court noted that both the tenant and the owner were “sophisticated commercial entities,” so the tenant couldn't claim that the owner had unfair bargaining power [Pers Travel, Inc. v. Canal Square Assocs.].