A bench trial is a trial decided by a judge alone, without a jury. A jury trial is decided by a panel of citizens. The choice between them — where one exists — is among the most consequential strategic decisions in litigation, with implications that reach from legal theory to psychology to the specific facts of the case. What They Are In a jury trial, the jury is the finder of fact.

A writ of mandamus is a court order commanding a government official, lower court, or government body to perform a duty that is purely ministerial — one that the law requires them to perform and that they have refused or failed to carry out. It is an extraordinary remedy, not a routine one, and courts grant it sparingly. What It Is Mandamus sits in the category of extraordinary writs — legal tools that exist outside the normal appellate process and are available only when ordinary remedies are inadequate.