Law School Students & Jury Duty Forum

[DrGuano]

Have to report for trial jury duty tomorrow morning. Can only postpone once for 6 weeks, so I figured I might as well get this out of the way now. What are peoples experiences with getting dismissed promptly based on their law student status? I'm hoping to be in and out as quickly as possible.

[LiberalLaw]

I actually received a notice this past month. My home state allowed for a postponement, and i have a date in August.

You can try and talk to the trial judge in your county or court and see if they will move it again.

[duckmoney]

Did you get called in the county you currently reside in? If you don't live in the county anymore, if its your hometown or UG county, then you're automatically exempt.

[imchuckbass58]

Have to report for trial jury duty tomorrow morning. Can only postpone once for 6 weeks, so I figured I might as well get this out of the way now. What are peoples experiences with getting dismissed promptly based on their law student status? I'm hoping to be in and out as quickly as possible.

I think all else equal it probably means you are less likely to be picked, but there's still a decent chance. When I did jury duty, two practicing lawyers were picked to be on the jury (they were in civil practice, the case was a criminal one). Believe it or not, I know of one instance of a nominated-but-not-yet-confirmed federal judge being picked to be on a state jury.

By the way, if you have any prior association with a prosecutor's office (ADA or AUSA) or public defender's office, even an internship, in some jurisdictions you'll be automatically disqualified. So play that up if you have it.

[jess]

.

[I.P. Daly]

Enjoy vwa dear.

[LSATNightmares]

My contracts professor last semester got called for jury duty and served on a jury during our finals week, which made it hard to go to office hours. It happens. Hopefully, it will be quick and only part of the day.

[ben4847]

Frankly, I'd just skip it and pay the fine. If you're paying 25k a semester, it is worth another few hundred bucks to not miss a week of class.

[I.P. Daly]

Frankly, I'd just skip it and pay the fine. If you're paying 25k a semester, it is worth another few hundred bucks to not miss a week of class.

You'd probably have to report skipping jury duty on your Character and Fitness application.

Explaining why you skipped jury duty when you could have shown up and asked to be excused based on undue hardship might suck, a lot.

If you report for jury duty, the attorneys and judge, presumably having gone to law school, are likely to understand and be sympathetic to your situation.

[dixiecupdrinking]

Depends on your jurisdiction, but when I got called in NY they asked if anyone was a student who was currently missing class, then let those people go. I didn't have class that morning so they didn't dismiss me. Then I got empaneled, despite the fact that I did have to miss class later in the week for the trial. Pretty dumb but there you go.

One of the lawyers (who had a pretty weak case) clearly wanted to dismiss me but had used his peremptories. It all just depends, but on balance your odds of being put on a jury are probably pretty much like everyone else's.

Also FWIW, I accidentally missed my first jury summons date (threw it out and completely forgot about it) and didn't hear from them again for about six months. Then they just sent me another one that basically said, Hey buddy, you better show up this time. Wouldn't count on there being no repercussions but more likely than not you can skip it once and chalk it up to an accident.

[DrGuano]

Hopped the train to the suburbs at 7:40, got in at 8:20, in the jury selection room at 8:45, dismissed by 9!

Sweet talked the lady setting everything up before the admin judge came in, she got me into his office, I told him I was in law school and would be missing two classes today, and he sent me on my way.

Back in my apartment in the city by 10:30.

All in all - not too shabby of a jury duty experience.

[ben4847]

Hopped the train to the suburbs at 7:40, got in at 8:20, in the jury selection room at 8:45, dismissed by 9!

Sweet talked the lady setting everything up before the admin judge came in, she got me into his office, I told him I was in law school and would be missing two classes today, and he sent me on my way.

Back in my apartment in the city by 10:30.

All in all - not too shabby of a jury duty experience.

yeah, I did that during summer vacation in undergrad. Just told them I was in Harvard law school and had two LSATs that morning.

[DrGuano]

Hopped the train to the suburbs at 7:40, got in at 8:20, in the jury selection room at 8:45, dismissed by 9!

Sweet talked the lady setting everything up before the admin judge came in, she got me into his office, I told him I was in law school and would be missing two classes today, and he sent me on my way.

Back in my apartment in the city by 10:30.

All in all - not too shabby of a jury duty experience.

yeah, I did that during summer vacation in undergrad. Just told them I was in Harvard law school and had two LSATs that morning.

TWO LSATS?! IN ONE MORNING?!

baller

[shepdawg]

A friend of mine in California has thrown away every jury notice she has ever received, and never reported to court. She's 76 years old now, and has never been prosecuted, fined, or ticketed for not attending jury duty.

[ben4847]

They say that in NY state, if you never fill out the "jury questionnaire" that they send first, you will never get called or fined.
I didn't know that, so I filled it out. I got called, and ended up there on various panels for 4 days, before being sent home. At least I got $160.

[DrGuano]

A friend of mine in California has thrown away every jury notice she has ever received, and never reported to court. She's 76 years old now, and has never been prosecuted, fined, or ticketed for not attending jury duty.

good for her. i'm yet to sit for the bar, so think it's best fo c&f to wade carefully when it comes to contempt of court charges.

[reformed calvinist]

A friend of mine in California has thrown away every jury notice she has ever received, and never reported to court. She's 76 years old now, and has never been prosecuted, fined, or ticketed for not attending jury duty.

good for her. i'm yet to sit for the bar, so think it's best fo c&f to wade carefully when it comes to contempt of court charges.

The point is if it's not sent via certified mail they can't show you received it.

[DrGuano]

A friend of mine in California has thrown away every jury notice she has ever received, and never reported to court. She's 76 years old now, and has never been prosecuted, fined, or ticketed for not attending jury duty.

good for her. i'm yet to sit for the bar, so think it's best fo c&f to wade carefully when it comes to contempt of court charges.

The point is if it's not sent via certified mail they can't show you received it.

Scouring old posts to respond to?? Looks like someone's procrastinating.

[reformed calvinist]

A friend of mine in California has thrown away every jury notice she has ever received, and never reported to court. She's 76 years old now, and has never been prosecuted, fined, or ticketed for not attending jury duty.

good for her. i'm yet to sit for the bar, so think it's best fo c&f to wade carefully when it comes to contempt of court charges.

The point is if it's not sent via certified mail they can't show you received it.

Scouring old posts to respond to?? Looks like someone's procrastinating.

[cinephile]

^^^ so cute! Reminds of when my kittens were little.

[reformed calvinist]

^^^ so cute! Reminds of when my kittens were little.

I'm allergic to cats