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Maybe it’s because I’m a litigator, but the idea of LYING to get out of jury duty is insane to me. Probably the worst thing you can do is straight up lie to the Court, so no, don’t do that.
I’ve never been selected but the people I know who are end up working at night on whatever they missed during the day. It sucks, but everyone has lives that are interrupted by jury duty.
This. I borrowed a roommate’s Pornhub hoodie twice before. Went 0/2. Have to go again in June. Hoping for a hat trick.
You can't lie to a court OP. Feel free to emphasize certain things and not others and maybe exaggerate a tiny bit but you can't lie to a court.
No you do not have an ethical duty to your clients to weasel out of your duty as a citizen.
Rising Star
I’ve gotten kicked every time. I don’t need to invent bias. I emphasize how important jury service is for the functioning of our justice system, blah blah blah, but that given someone’s freedom at stake I couldn’t avoid doing my own legal research and can’t substitute the attorney’s judgment for my own.
You can also reference in the questionnaires your belief in jury nullification if the verdict seems inequitable.
Perspective from a paralegal who did BIG med mal (plaintiffs) for over 15 years - if one of your loved ones was catastrophically injured and it went to court, and the only thing standing between your families justice and a big company was a jury, would you want it full of school aged kids, unemployed adults, and/or retirees? Or would you prefer educated, life-wise adults who have a vested interest in how society treats individuals and not letting big companies get away with murder (literally)?
I won't try to say it is not an inconvenience to a person to be on a jury, but if YOU needed the assistance, I bet you'd be hoping the folks in this group were on your jury.
I honestly cannot believe that so many attorney "boses" could be so blinded by their bottom line as to lose this perspective. And companies who make employees use vacation time while on a jury arr pure evil. Personally, I sat on grand jury in Portland, OR for 3 weeks years ago. Granted it was mostly drug based crimes, but it was still fascinating. I learned a lot.
For those that care how it turned out, we started at over 100 in the pool, I was in it to the final 30 and was let go in the last group when they named the people who were actually selected. Thank you to those who chimed in for making me feel better that I wasn't just outright lying or saying what I thought would get me kicked off quickly.
Judges ask about reasons or excuses before even starting voir dire, such as child care, surgeries, trials. Etc. Those people all grt released. Just be honest. Also, in Texas, attorneys NEVER get picked. I was very worried that as in-house counsel I would get picked although I had a trial coming up, but judge told me 1) in-house trials do not count, 2) attorneys don't get picked even if not in private practice. Judge told me to just be patient and I was later released, although everyone around me was picked. The lady next to me got picked and she filled me in later over lunch on the details. Super interesting trial and I would have happily done my civic duty and served.
Yikes. Day 4? Yeah, if they were going to release you for being an attorney they would have done so by now. You're squarely in voir dire. You can only get released now for casue or prejudice or becuase you're too high up past the dozen they need (number depends on state snd type of jury).
Ethically speaking, as officers of the court I'd say it's unethical to lie or "do what we can" to get out of jury duty. If you have a legitimate and valid reason to not be able to perform jury service, that's a different story.
Does it expressly violate any of our Model Rules of Professional Conduct? THAT is a completely different question. Simply speaking as an officer of the court who took the same oath you did upon licensure, I'd say don't do anything unethical or shady to get out of the trial. There's a chance you won't be chosen, and if you are, then serve with the best attitude and determination.
Intentionally getting kicked off is such a waste of an opportunity (not that you did this, but the implication is there). Can't help but think you and/or your partners are too short sided or don't care about your career to not see this as an opportunity to have an inside perspective on a jury (or you just dont work up cases for trial, which is fine). No doubt my boss would give me a week or two off to go be on a jury. The whole civic obligation thing isn't a huge deal, but I feel somewhat obligated to give a good faith effort as someone that is (1) an officer of the court and (2) asks other random citizens to be jurors on my cases.
All that said, if you just got tossed while being honest and fair, then good on you!
Thanks. I was just not picked, not kicked off. Was completely honest the whole process.
But also I've done everything possible to not work in courtrooms. Not my thing. I do T&E.
Move to Virginia. Members of the bar can’t serve on juries.
I have told people who want to get out of jury duty to say that, assuming it’s a criminal trial, they would be biased in favor of the state bc the state has limited resources and so you believe that if the state is taking something all the way to trial they likely have significant evidence and the accused is likely guilty.
It is a defensible position and will get you nuked for cause by the defense.
If it’s civil idk. I’d guess say something about being predisposed to the defense bc you’ve heard about so many lawsuits just being strike suits without strong factual basis.
This is also a place where pro bono work comes in handy. I represent crime victims pro bono and wind up getting dismissed from most criminal cases in very short order.
I had a friend recently get called for a 2 month trial. She was panicking about possibly being selected, and I didn’t feel like I could even ethically tell her what to do to avoid getting picked. Thankfully she had a great reason to not be selected, so it all worked out.
My wife has to report next week (talk about what are the odds), and besides the fact she can probably have a decent argument that if I get picked she can't also be serving on a jury at the same time for child care reasons, she's also 7 months pregnant herself.
When they ask you about being unbiased or only listening to the facts just start with “as a lawyer” and then say something about trying your best not to undermine the line of questioning or the way evidence is presented.
Be honest! Admit that you are going to have a difficult time focusing on the trial because you are going to be worried about your own cases!
Rising Star
That’s a great way to get seated. Everyone has a day job, we’re not special.
I stumped the Judge when asked what my hardship was. I don’t have a drivers license and would not be able to report each day. Public transportation is very limited and I’m sure not reliable. The Judge had to excuse me.