Ex Parte Cupps

Ted Stanley Cupps, the defendant in an action pending in the Walker Circuit Court, petitions for a writ of mandamus directing the circuit court to vacate its order striking his jury demands. The substantive question presented is whether a contractual waiver of the right to a jury trial, which expressly applies only to claims "arising under" the contract containing the waiver, bars a jury trial on all of Cupps's claims against the other contracting party, both his contract claim and his tort claims. For the reasons stated below, we grant the petition in part and issue a writ directing the…