Good question. My source (which I cited) broadly establishes the fallacy that jury verdicts are less frequently reversed than bench verdicts.
The following analysis of state-tried civil cases is from CourtStatistics.org:
Civil Trials on Appeal - Part 1
•
How often are trials reversed or affirmed?
National Center for State Courts • Richard Y. Schauffler, Project Director • Nicole L. Waters, Author
Decisions rendered by judges or juries in state trial courts do not necessarily signify the end of court involvement
in a dispute. In fact, litigants appealed their 2001 trial court decision in approximately 15 percent of general civil
trials in 46 of the nation’s most populous counties. The purpose of Part I of this two-part Caseload Highlights series is to explore intermediate appellate court activity following general civil jury and bench trials.
The data reported in this issue are from the Civil Justice Survey of State Courts, 2001 – Supplemental Study of Civil Appeals, conducted by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) with funding from the Bureau of Justice Statistics
(BJS). The NCSC compiled appellate data on all general civil trials in which a litigant sought appellate review. In
total, 1,204 appeals took place in 33 intermediate appellate courts (IAC) and 13 courts of last resort (COLR). Since
most appellate activity occurred at the IAC level, this Caseload Highlight series is to explore intermediate appellate court activity following general civil
jury and bench trials.
The data reported in this issue are from the Civil Justice Survey of State Courts, 2001 – Supplemental Study of Civil Appeals, conducted by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) with funding from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). The NCSC compiled appellate data on all general civil trials in which a litigant sought appellate review. In total, 1,204 appeals took place in 33 intermediate appellate courts (IAC) and 13 courts of last resort (COLR). Since most appellate activity occurred at the IAC level, this Caseload Highlights will focus on those appeals.
This 2001 report covers 20 states. The reversal rate was 15% for jury verdicts and 5% for bench verdicts.
In “Implications and Conclusions,” the author submits:
“This study represents the first supplemental effort to a nationwide examination of civil litigation by tracking general civil trials through the appellate process in state courts. In this Caseload Highlights, we have examined factors associated with appeal rates, appellate caseload
composition, outcomes on appeal, and appellate court processing times.
“Litigants use the appeals process strategically, as
leverage for ongoing settlement negotiations or to wait out the opposing party, in addition to the more typical pursuit of correcting alleged trial court error. This is evident considering approximately one-third of appeals were not decided on the merits of the appeal, but withdrawn or dismissed for procedural reasons.
“Appeal rates were low, affirmance rates were high, and more reversals were obtained after a jury verdict as compared to a decision by a judge. These findings are consistent with two theories proposed by Clermont and Eisenberg, who examined civil appeals in federal appellate courts. They found that appellate courts were deferential to trial courts (i.e., a high affirmance rate), and expert adjudicators were less likely to be reversed (i.e., a lower reversal
rate of bench trials than jury trials). These findings also illustrate evidence of a substantial advantage to defendants on appeal, especially in jury trials.”
tl;dr: State civil cases tried by jury have three times the reversal rate of those tried by bench. (15% vs. 5%.)
Interesting, thanks. Although the data is old, probably still good.