This is the second of four articles examining the scope of the Seventh Amendment jury trial right for civil defendants in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement actions. The previous article explained why the Seventh Amendment entitles a civil defendant to a jury finding as to those facts that increase the maximum penalty — the “liability”— to which a defendant is exposed. In that way, the right to a civil jury trial mirrors the criminal jury trial right. In this article, we consider how this Seventh Amendment right applies to the determination of the number of violations a defendant committed and thus the number of violations for which the defendant may be liable.

Originally published in Law360 - July 11, 2016.