I need a t-shirt that says

"I survived jury duty". I did. I did. I did.

What did I miss in the years I did not get called and picked to serve on a jury? Not much.

A few things I learned though, were very important.

1. Don't let your lawyer clown it up on the opening arguments. He/she should be reasonable and convincing, but bouncing binders in front of the jury to get their attention is not the way to do that. It gave me a headache.

2. Tell the truth. Or at least be expected to use the same story over and over. You know that oath "thingy"? Yes, it applies to you.

3. Related to #2, never swear that you never use the phone. There are records.

4. Don't hire one of your own employees to serve as your "expert witness". It is a little thing called conflict of interest for him/her to participate.

5. Don't repeatedly say your client knows nothing about business, because he/she has been at it for a few years...like 40. Despite everything, the business is solvent, so who's at the wheel?

6. Always be explicit. Some folks, for whom English is a second language, may not understand things that are implied, especially in e-mails.

7. Don't use easels to display e-mail quotes that you've circulated ad nauseum in the courtroom. I got tired of looking at your not-so-hot quotes on foam board.

And finally, one of the most important things I learned from jury duty:

Take every moment you can to enjoy a moment outside in the sunshine. You will never get enough of those. Criminals and crazy relatives tend to stick around, but sunshine doesn't, so enjoy it while you can.

More to come...

The joys of jury duty

Jury duty can be a blessing, or a curse.

Some of the perks/hazards/interesting things: 
 
1. It gets you out of the office. Plenty of interesting folks hang around courthouses. And even more pay traffic (or parking) tickets.

2. You could get sequestered.

2. You know it will get interesting if the folks can't follow directions at the metal detectors.

3. It's also sad seeing the little old people there (many because they need a conservator.)

4. At lunch time, you can eat, shop and roam around. (Lunches for court staff under an hour are rare in our neck of the woods).

5.  Finally, you realize that your job's not so bad after all, your family's not totally silly and the food at the Hotel cafeteria really is pretty good.

And soon enough, it will be time to go home again, back to reality.

That is all...stay tuned.