Comments on: Duty Calls

By: Adam Benforado

Adam Benforado — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:42:13 +0000

Brant, Thanks for the comment – I’m surprised that you were left on the jury as well (luckily, I’ve not been teaching long enough for this to be much of a concern)! On the persuasion front, I expect to encounter a similar dynamic but we shall see next week.

By: Brant Lee

Brant Lee — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 04:41:31 +0000

I’m late to this party, but a student alerted me to this thread, and I thought I’d chime in. I served as a juror on a med mal case a few years ago, and yes I was the foreperson. It came out on voir dire that one of the defense lawyers was a former student of mine (he seemed vaguely familiar, but I was embarassed not to remember him until he raised it with the court and I then confirmed). I was shocked to be kept on the jury.

I remember wondering about how much persuasion to attempt, but there wasn’t any problem with me overly influencing the jury. It may be that my looking young and being a minority had something to do with it, but they weren’t much convinced by anything I had to say.

By: Adam Benforado

Adam Benforado — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:56:36 +0000

Thanks, Len, Doug, Eric, and Michael – all interesting and helpful!

Len, I didn’t know about the prohibition on law professors in Canada serving on juries – that’s surprising (and fascinating) to me. Do you know if that’s common in other Commonwealth countries or what the precise origin is?

By: Michael Froomkin

Michael Froomkin — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:57:24 +0000

Yes I served and yes I was the foreperson (despite my great reluctance).

By: Eric T.

Eric T. — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:14:00 +0000

I hope this answers your question about who gets picked…but the short answer is that you pick the one you want to have a beer with…

http://www.newyorkpersonalinjuryattorneyblog.com/2009/12/would-you-rather-have-law-professor-on.html

By: Doug B.

Doug B. — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:10:33 +0000

I had the great fortune to serve on a (small) county GRAND jury, and it was an extraordinary experience. I was only an alternate for some days, so I rarely even had a chance to vote, but I learned so much and would eagerly do it again if given the chance

By: Len Rotman

Len Rotman — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:51:13 +0000

Adam,

I am jealous. As a Canadian law professor, I am ineligible to serve on a jury, as is my spouse (which she claims is why she married me in the first place!).

I often have wondered why it seems that those who are most interested in serving on a jury either cannot, as is the case with me, or are simply not called upon, while others who would rather do anything but serve on a jury (like my brother-in-law) are called repeatedly.