In Burnett v. Johnson, 349 S.W.2d 19, 20 (Mo. 1961) the plaintiffs asserted a claim for damages to which the defendant responded with equitable affirmative defenses and counterclaims in equity and at law. The trial court ruled that the counterclaims converted the case from one at law to one in equity. Id.at 21. The plaintiffs argued that the claim was not in equity but nonetheless proceeded without a jury. Id. The trial court heard the plaintiffs' and defendant's evidence and ruled against the plaintiffs as to their claims, against the defendant as to his equitable claims, but awarded the defendant damages as to his counterclaim at law. Id. at 21-22. The trial court then granted the plaintiffs' motion for a new trial and transferred the case to a jury docket. Id. at 22. The defendant appealed. Id. Despite agreeing with the trial court that "equitable rights must be both averred and proved before purely legal rights will be determined by a court of equity," the Court reversed. Id. at 23. The Court noted that if the equitable claims and defenses were unsuccessful, the claims at law should have been tried before a jury. Id. at 22.