MURPHY, District Judge:
Plaintiffs Amanda Kremers and Jason McCann filed this putative class action in the Circuit Court of the Third Judicial Circuit, Madison County, Illinois, on March 2, 2009. Defendant Coca-Cola Company ("Coca-Cola") removed the action to this Court on May 1, 2009. Federal subject matter jurisdiction is alleged on the basis of diversity of citizenship pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332, as amended by the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, Pub.L. No. 109-2, 119 Stat. 4 (codified in scattered sections of 28 U.S.C.). In their complaint Kremers and McCann allege that they purchased soft drinks manufactured by Coca-Cola that were marketed as
As an initial matter, the Court notes that although the motion to strike does not specify the procedural rule under which it is brought, it may be deduced that it is Rule 12 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. That rule provides, in pertinent part, that where, as here, a party makes a motion within twenty days of service of a pleading, a court "may strike from [the] pleading ... any redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter." Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(f). It is the case, of course, that "motions to strike are disfavored," because they "potentially serve only to delay," although when motions to strike "remove unnecessary clutter from the case, they serve to expedite, not delay." Heller Fin., Inc. v. Midwhey Powder Co., 883 F.2d 1286, 1294 (7th Cir. 1989) (citing United States v. 416.81 Acres of Land, 514 F.2d 627, 631 (7th Cir.1975)). Thus, motions to strike can be "useful" when, for example, "the parties disagree on the legal implications of the uncontroverted facts." Resolution Trust Corp. v. Gallagher, No. 92 C 1091, 1992 WL 370248, at *3 (N.D.Ill. Dec. 2, 1992). In particular, Rule 12(f) motions are employed frequently in this Circuit to strike improper jury demands as to claims for relief which afford no right to a jury trial. See, e.g., Beesley v. International Paper Co., No. 06-703 DRH, 2009 WL 260782, at *4 (S.D.Ill. Feb. 4, 2009) (using Rule 12(f) to strike a demand for a jury trial as to certain claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq.); Spano v. Boeing Co., No. 06-cv-743-DRH, 2007 WL 1149192, at **6-9 (S.D.Ill. Apr. 18, 2007) (same); Cabin v. Plastofilm Indus., Inc., No. 96 C 2564, 1996 WL 496604, at *1 & n. 1, **3-4 (N.D.Ill. Aug. 29, 1996) (same).
The Supreme Court of the United States has interpreted the right to a jury trial preserved by the Seventh Amendment to extend beyond "suits at common law," and to embrace all suits in which legal rights are adjudicated, as opposed to actions where equitable rights alone are at issue and equitable remedies are administered. See Chauffeurs, Teamsters & Helpers, Local No. 391 v. Terry, 494 U.S. 558, 564, 110 S.Ct. 1339, 108 L.Ed.2d 519 (1990). In Curtis v. Loether, 415 U.S. 189, 94 S.Ct. 1005, 39 L.Ed.2d 260 (1974), the Court also held that "the Seventh Amendment ... appl[ies] to statutory actions enforcing statutory rights, and requires a jury trial upon demand, if the statute creates legal rights and remedies, enforceable in an action for damages in the ordinary courts of law." Id. at 194, 94 S.Ct. 1005. See also Lebow v. American Trans Air, Inc., 86 F.3d 661, 669 (7th Cir.1996); Grayson v. Wickes Corp., 607 F.2d 1194, 1196 (7th Cir.1979). To determine whether a particular action will resolve legal rights and thus give rise to a jury trial right, a court must examine both the nature of the claim for relief and the remedy sought. See Wooddell v. International Bhd. of Elec. Workers, Local 71, 502 U.S. 93, 97, 112 S.Ct. 494, 116 L.Ed.2d 419 (1991) (citing Terry, 494 U.S. at 565, 110 S.Ct. 1339); Marseilles Hydro Power, LLC v. Marseilles Land & Water Co., 299 F.3d 643, 648 (7th Cir.2002). Specifically, a court must: (1) compare the statutory action in question to analogous 18th-century actions existing at the time the Seventh Amendment was ratified, which antedates, of course, the merger of the courts of law and equity in the federal judicial system; and (2) examine the remedy sought, and
Although the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has not spoken to the issue of whether there is a right to a jury trial on an ICFA claim in federal court, a number of thoughtful opinions from sister federal trial courts in this Circuit have concluded that the Seventh Amendment does create such a right. See, e.g., Cellular Dynamics, Inc. v. MCI Telecomms. Corp., No. 94 C 3126, 1997 WL 285830, at **6-9 (N.D.Ill. May 23, 1997); Israel Travel Advisory Serv., Inc. v. Israel Identity Tours, Inc., No. 92 C 2379, 1993 WL 451410, at **1-2 (N.D.Ill. Nov. 2, 1993); Inter-Asset Finanz AG v. Refco, Inc., No. 92 C 7833, 1993 WL 311772, at **3-4 (N.D.Ill. Aug. 12, 1993). But cf. GreatAmerica Leasing Corp. v. Cozzi Iron & Metal, Inc., 76 F.Supp.2d 875, 880 (N.D.Ill.1999). While the Court is perfectly well aware that, as Kremers and McCann point out, the opinions of district courts are not precedents, see Fry v. Exelon Corp. Cash Balance Pension Plan, 571 F.3d 644, 648 (7th Cir. 2009); Matheny v. United States, 469 F.3d 1093, 1097 (7th Cir.2006); Dudley v. Putnam Inv. Funds, 472 F.Supp.2d 1102, 1105 (S.D.Ill.2007), decisions of coordinate courts are entitled to this Court's respectful attention and to such weight as their persuasive value commands. See Colby v. J.C. Penney Co., 811 F.2d 1119, 1123 (7th Cir.1987); Richards v. Local 134, Int'l Bhd. of Elec. Workers, 790 F.2d 633, 636 (7th Cir.1986); Rutherford v. Merck & Co., 428 F.Supp.2d 842, 851 (S.D.Ill.2006). The Court concurs with what it views as the better-reasoned authority holding that there is a right to a jury trial on an ICFA claim in federal court.
Applying the historical test, the Court first compares an ICFA action to analogous 18th-century actions existing at the time of the adoption of the Seventh Amendment. A claim for deceptive trade practices under the ICFA is in essence a claim for common-law fraud shorn by statute of the necessity of proving either an intent to deceive on the part of a defendant or reasonable reliance on an alleged misrepresentation on the part of a plaintiff. See Thacker v. Menard, Inc., 105 F.3d 382, 386 (7th Cir.1997) (applying Illinois law); Oshana v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co., 225 F.R.D. 575, 583 (N.D.Ill.2005) (same); Azimi v. Ford Motor Co., 977 F.Supp. 847, 852 n. 5 (N.D.Ill.1996) (same); Siegel v. Levy Org. Dev. Co., 153 Ill.2d 534, 180 Ill.Dec. 300, 607 N.E.2d 194, 198 (1992). According to the United States Supreme Court, "Our decisions establish beyond peradventure that `[i]n cases of fraud or mistake, as under any other head
Although Kremers and McCann make much of the fact that before removal this case was assigned to the chancery division of the Madison County circuit court, the Court assigns no importance to this fact, given that, as noted, in federal diversity actions, federal law governs the characterization of a state-created claim as legal or equitable for purposes of determining whether the right to a jury trial exists. See Simler, 372 U.S. at 222, 83 S.Ct. 609; Jefferson Nat'l Bank, 700 F.2d at 1149; Cellular Dynamics, 1997 WL 285830, at *6. Finally, the Court rejects the contention asserted by Kremers and McCann that because this action is brought as a class action, it necessarily is equitable for purposes of the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial. Although the historical roots of the class action device lie, of course, in equity jurisprudence, it is well established that parties to a class action have a right to a jury trial on any issues of law presented by such an action. See Ortiz v. Fibreboard Corp., 527 U.S. 815, 845-46, 119 S.Ct. 2295, 144 L.Ed.2d 715 (1999) (parties to a class action have a Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial on any legal issues they raise, but not on equitable ones); Ross, 396 U.S. at 541, 90 S.Ct. 733 (noting that it is "settled ... that class action [parties] may obtain a jury trial on any legal issues they present."); Cimino v. Raymark Indus., Inc., 151 F.3d 297, 312 (5th Cir.1998) (citing Alabama v. Blue Bird Body Co., 573 F.2d 309, 318 (5th Cir.1978)) ("[T]he applicability of the Seventh Amendment is not altered simply because the case is [a] class action."); City of Detroit v. Grinnell Corp.,
To conclude, the Court finds that the motion of Kremers and McCann to strike Coca-Cola's jury demand as to the ICFA claims in this case (Doc. 18) is not well taken and accordingly the motion is