To the average American, nothing is seemingly more disliked than receiving a jury summons in the mail.  You were having a perfectly wonderful day, and never in a million years did you think you would be called for jury duty as you walked out to your mailbox.  Aaaaaarghh!!!!   Now I’ll miss time from work, and it’s going to interfere with my vacation, or a kid’s school play, etc.  The list is endless of what people believe they are going to miss or the hardship they will suffer if they have to report to jury duty.  The “despised” nature of jury duty has even been portrayed in movies, perhaps never funnier than when Jim Carey as the Grinch in the movie several years ago.   The movie portrays the Grinch gleafully filling the mailboxes of all the citizens of Whoville with either a jury summons or some form of blackmail.  The inference is clear, which is worse?   Blackmail or jury duty??

     Although nobody likes to be inconvenieced by reporting to jury duty, everyone should remember that other than voting, acting as a juror is really your only other civic responsibility in this country.  In other words, all  the work of the founding fathers, and all the actions of those who fought bravely or died on behalf of this country’s democratic institutions, resulted in a set of freedoms for citizens of this country not seen in other parts of the world.  And after all the sacrifice of those that came before you, to ensure that each of us has the right to life, liberty and happiness, all your government really asks of you in return is to vote and show up for jury duty.  In terms of voting, many people don’t even do that, so is it really all that bothersome to perform at least one minimal act of civic stewardship?? 

     Without reciting all we heard in grammar school about our three branches of government, and the U.S. Constitution and the “amendments” to it, I believe it is extremely important that everyone remembers that we are the ONLY country in the world that DEMANDS jury trials in civil cases!!  Think about that!!  Amendment 7 to the U.S. Constitution states that:

     In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall  twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

     You or someone you love has been seriously injured in an accident, and the insurance company is being unfair with you in terms of settling your case.  Except for that amendment, your case would be decided by a judge and a judge alone.  No member of your community could put their experiences in the affairs of life to bear on your case’s resolution.  In other words, jury duty in civil cases is an extremely important protection to those that have been injured or killed by the negligence  of others!!  Either 6 or 12 people from your community will say what the case is worth, not just a judge that you don’t know anything about, didn’t vote for and have no idea what their background is. 

     As a trial lawyer, I can’t think of anything more important to my clients than the right to have their cases decided by a jury.  And even though jury duty does take some amount of time away from what your other daily routines  would have been, almost every judge I have been in front of has been very sensitive to those facts.  Very young women with nursing babies and other small children at home and no adequate day care, those attending to very old and ailing relatives that can’t get somebody else competent to do it, those with pre-paid vacations and other extremely important events are almost always excused from jury service due to  hardship.  Those potential jurors that try to fabricate some story of woe to try and convince the judge of some hardship event, are routinely sent back to the jury pool and told to wait until their term of service is over.  While there is no one standard rule as to  how long jury service is, one thing is clear, if you sit on a civil jury, and reach a verdict, you are DONE!   You won’t be called for at least another year, the trial may have only lasted a couple of days, in contrast to your 7-14 days of service in some cases if you are not seated on a jury. 

     Without lecturing anyone on the importance of jury duty, what I can share from personal experience, an experience echoed by other lawyers I know and judges I have been in front of, is this:  Almost every person that actually serves on a jury, at the conclusion of the case, thought it was  A FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE!!   They loved learing about a trial,  about deciding the outcome of a case, about having many questions they had about law or trials being answered, they love the interaction with the other jurors, etc.  In other words, almost overwhelmingly, every person that actuall has sat on a jury has believed it WAS A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE!! 

     So when you get that jury summons, sure, it might be inconveient.  You might have to drive into the city, or get a babysitter, or have to finish your work after hours or before court, but at the end of the process, you, like so many before you, will have made a HUGE commitment to our democratic system of government, you will have made a HUGE difference in resolving a controversey, you will most likely meet 5-11 other very interesting people that you may keep in touch with, and most importantly, you will most likely have LOVED THE ACT OF BEING A JUROR!!!

     Jury service is vital to our system.  Be a part of the process and do the best you can.  At the end of the day, some day YOU may need a jury to determine your rights!!  If you tried to avoid service, what will you expect then?   Be a part of the system and make a difference.  Good luck.