Glossary
Jury
A group of ordinary citizens, selected at random from the community, who listen to the evidence in a case and decide questions of fact. Juries don't decide questions of law: that's the judge's job.
Juries are central to the U.S. legal system but they aren't used in every case. Most civil cases: and certainly most disputes that get filed in court: never reach a jury. Either they settle, get dismissed, or are decided by a judge.
When a jury is used, its job is to decide what happened (the facts) based on the evidence presented at trial. The judge tells the jury what the law says, and the jury applies that law to the facts to reach a verdict.
Civil juries typically have 6 to 12 members. Criminal juries are usually 12. Both sides get a chance to question potential jurors and remove some they think won't be fair.