What is the test for having a jury trial in a civil case?

In California, the constitutional right to a jury trial in civil cases generally applies to claims that are legal in nature, not to claims that are equitable. (Arciero Ranches v. Meza (1993) 17 Cal.App.4th 114, 124.) Where, as here, a civil case includes claims that are legal (such as respondents' and appellants' tort claims), claims that are equitable (such as respondents' claims for quiet title), and factual issues that must be resolved for the adjudication of respondents' quiet title claim, the court must decide what issues are to be decided by the jury, what issues are to be decided by the court, and the order in which the issues should be decided.

Appellants note that a court has discretion to decide equitable issues first, and such a course may be best if it promotes judicial economy. (Hoopes v. Dolan, 168 Cal.App.4th 146, 156-157.) "It is well established that, in a case involving both legal and equitable issues, the trial court may proceed to try the equitable issues first, without a jury . . . and that if the court's determination of those issues is also dispositive of the legal issues, nothing further remains to be tried by a jury." (Raedeke v. Gibraltar Sav. & Loan Assn. (1974) 10 Cal.3d 665, 671. Italics added.)