Our new client alert discusses the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent holding in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy that the Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution entitles a defendant to a jury trial when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeks civil penalties for securities fraud. As a result of this holding, the SEC must sue in federal court, rather than in the agency’s in-house administrative law court that lacks juries, when it seeks civil penalties for fraud. Going forward, if the SEC seeks civil penalties on a claim that resembles traditional common law claims, like fraud, it must do so in federal court. The SEC may continue using in-house administrative proceedings when not seeking civil penalties.