Richard D'Oyly Carte in1875 asked the two men to collaborate on a short opera to be played as an after piece to Offenbach's comic opera, La Périchole.

It is quite short, only forty minutes, and alone of the operas contains no spoken dialogue. There are many people who consider it to be the most perfectly constructed of the whole series and it is indeed a little gem of wit, sentiment and charm. The absurdities that can come from a breach of promise case, when the sensibilities of the jury and the judge are affected, was just the sort of subject to inspire Gilbert, and the libretto he produced in turn inspired Sullivan to write some of his most sparkling music.

One of the best productions I have of Trial By Jury can be found in the movie biography The Story Of Gilbert and Sullivan found in the Other G&S section. It is all D'Oyly Carte people featuring the great Martyn Green.