Either side may generally request a jury trial. Usually a trial date if by jury will be set further out. I would venture that in this case due to the technicalities involved in sorting out this (dis)agreement, the parties would prefer a decision by someone better versed in these matters and not leave it to 12 people off the street. The vast, vast majority of jurors would have a difficult time wrapping their head around the minituae that may make or break this case for either side.Seems strange to me. Dish is for all practical purposes the "defendant". Rainbow has the burden of proof. Seems like Dish should get the choice. But I guess the plaintiff gets the choice in civil matters.
If the trial is in New York, perhaps Rainbow is worried about getting some disgruntled Cablevision subscribers on the jury.
Other question: anyone know who's lawyers actually drafted the affiliation agreement? This trial will be all about interpreting an ambiguous contract, and I think it is standard that such contracts are interpreted in favor whomever didn't draft the contract.
As for interpretation, that would be generally correct if one party presented it to the other and it was signed as is (e.g. a consumer contract). I doubt that was the case here. Sometimes a specific clause stating that all parties were involved in the drafting is inserted to take care of that issue.
