Arizona Supreme Court to hear jury trial rights case
November 06, 2025
Phoenix, Arizona; November 6, 2025: A rubber recycling company will get its day before Arizona’s highest court to argue that all defendants deserve jury trials when government agencies seek financial penalties. EFG America asked the Arizona Supreme Court to protect constitutional jury trial rights after the Arizona Corporation Commission forced the Mesa-based company into unfair in-house tribunals.
“The Arizona Supreme Court’s decision to hear this case recognizes that fundamental constitutional rights are at stake,” said Adi Dynar, an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation. “When government agencies act as prosecutor, judge, and jury, they violate the basic American principle that everyone deserves a fair trial before an impartial jury of their peers.”
In 2024, the Arizona Corporation Commission filed enforcement action against EFG America and its founder Douglas Fimrite, alleging securities violations. The Commission refused to allow the case to be heard in superior court with a jury, instead forcing it through the agency’s own administrative process where the same agency that investigated and charged EFG also judges the case.
The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled against EFG, holding that defendants have no right to jury trials. This decision eliminates jury trials for a significant portion of civil cases in Arizona, undermining constitutional protections that have safeguarded Americans since the founding.
Both the Arizona Constitution and the U.S. Constitution’s Seventh Amendment guarantee jury trials in civil cases where the government seeks monetary penalties. The U.S. Supreme Court recently reaffirmed this principle in SEC v. Jarkesy. Now, the Arizona Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the same checks and balances protect the fundamental constitutional rights of Arizonans.
The case is EFG America, LLC v. Arizona Corporation Commission.
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About Pacific Legal Foundation
Pacific Legal Foundation is a national nonprofit law firm that defends Americans threatened by government overreach and abuse. Since our founding in 1973, we challenge the government when it violates individual liberty and constitutional rights. With active cases in 34 states plus Washington, D.C., PLF represents clients in state and federal courts, with 18 wins of 20 cases litigated at the U.S. Supreme Court.