South Carolina Trial Law Blog

Fellow trial attorney Ronnie Richter was recently on jury duty and had the

I was recently called for jury duty in Charleston County.  I did not get picked (surprise) to sit on a jury, but was called on 3 separate occasions to the jury assembly room.  I spent my time trying to observe and listen to what was being said.  I offer the following observation to my brother and sister trial lawyers.

Forcing the jury panel to wait absolutely sucks the energy out of them.  We are doing ourselves a GRAVE injustice when we arrive at the courthouse and continue a dialogue with the court or opposing counsel that causes the jury to wait.  On one occasion, we were asked to report to the assembly room by 2:30.  By 2:40, you could feel the tension, and comments such as “now they are on my time” were overheard. 

When the judge showed up a little late and commented that he and the lawyers were working, the jury muttered “yeah, but you’re getting paid.”  On another occasion, we were asked to report by 9:30.  The clerk did not appear until 10:00.  In the interim, I overhead the jury commenting on how much lunch cost the day before and how much money their service was costing them.

 While much of this remains out of our control, I take the following lessons from what I observed:

 1.                   Dialogues regarding evidentiary matters, settlement matters (or other matters for that matter) must end before you walk into the courtroom.  Save them for lunch or the evening if necessary.

2.                   If the jury is told to assemble at 9:30, do everything in your power to be prepared to go forward without delay. 

3.                   Never forget that they are waiting and that they don’t like it.  I think this is particularly sensitive to the Plaintiffs as we are the ones asking them for something.

4.                   If you believe that your case will resolve, try to let the next guy in line know so that they can be prepared to be there without delay.  The jury does not know why they have been made to wait and they don’t care.

5.                   Telling the jury that you are working hard does little to assuage them.  They don’t care how hard you work.  They do care how much of their time you have wasted.

6.                   If you are in chambers (or elsewhere) and the jury has been told to reassemble at 2:30 and the time is 2:15, wrap it up and get ready. 

Whether we like it or not, our first exposure to the jury is not when we introduce ourselves.  Rather, it is when they first assemble because they are being influenced by their overall experience as a juror. 

When we first assembled, there was almost a little excitement in the air.  Yes, some people were complaining, but for the most part the complaints did not seem sincere. 

After waiting once or twice, the complaints were very real.  I liken it to Disney World.  My best experiences have been when the lines were the shortest.  The jury wants the ride to start.  Don’t make them wait.