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BYRD v. BLUE RIDGE COOPERATIVE
Supreme Court of United States (1958) | 356 U.S. 525; 78 S.Ct. 893; 2 L.Ed.2d 953
TL;DR: In a diversity case, the Supreme Court held that a federal court should use a jury to decide a factual dispute, even if state law assigns that decision to a judge, because the federal interest in the judge-jury relationship outweighs the state's procedural rule.
Legal Significance: This case established the "Byrd balancing test," modifying the Erie doctrine's outcome-determinative test by introducing countervailing federal interests, such as the role of the jury under the Seventh Amendment, into the analysis of whether to apply state or federal procedure.