Jury Duty: Why People Hate Doing It & How We Can Fix It

Recently, I was called to jury duty. I ended up getting it postponed since I had things to do in the next 3 days. For those of you outside the US, the US has mandatory jury service for citizens and you generally get called for it at random. You only have to do it something like every 6 years but if you're called, you must go & nobody is exempt from it.

It seems a very desirable county in my city has a dark side: if you're called to jury duty you're told to allot at least 3 days of your life to do it at the whopping rate of $40 a day for a full 8 hour day. This is lower than both the state and federal minimum wage. There also seems to be no concern for economic hardship if you are self-employed & missing higher paying assignments means you could be in danger of not being able to pay your rent, utility bills, car payments, other necessary bills that not paying will cause your life to suffer in a very negative way (like being homeless, not having electricity or Internet access, not having a car in a locale where there's no viable public transit which means you'll eventually lose your job because you can't get there or do it, especially with no Internet, no telephone to call anyone or be reached at, no food, etc.).

When I did jury duty in a different county, I only had to be there for one day. It was a lot of waiting around, they called me for a case, excused me then I got to go home. No, in this "desirable" county there's a ballot system where if you are rejected for one case, you have to give your ballot back and they may draw your number AGAIN with seemingly no end in sight. I opted for an adjournment since I had planned assignments and didn't care to lose $500+ in not doing those assignments. I figure with prior planning, I can just clear my schedule and let people know I'm free the day before if things don't take as long as the clerks involved with jury duty tell you they will. The clerk where I was said "If you can't commit the whole day to the next 3 days, you should leave right now and get a postponement." I opted for a time where I might get fewer assignments & hopefully will face less stress.

One big thing about jury duty is you'd better bring something to do. Ideally you'll want something not involving electricity or technology like books or writing material. I'd thought of doing writing while I was in jury duty as well as doing legal CLEs; hey, if you have time to kill you may as well do legal CLEs (which I have never found exciting or interesting; maybe it's because most of the programs I've done had nothing to do with entertainment law & few speakers have an engaging, passionate style that makes you stand up and take notice). From my own conversations with lawyers, many aren't enthused with the whole CLE thing and view it more as taking medicine than learning useful things about their particular practice area. Saving the outlines and materials is always a good thing so you have those resources for later if the subject matter comes up but most lawyers are so freaking busy they don't have time to watch and pay full attention to this stuff. The CLE provider probably also factors in here since some offer more interesting courses than others. One lawyer I've heard about bills himself as a "comedian of law" & that just builds up expectations of fun in my mind. I want to see if this guy lives up to the hype sometime. Another thing about CLE courses is that many are pricey. But it's a requirement and if you HAVE to be someplace anyway, that's making productive use of your time. I've also watched some courses while taking Amtrak to see my family (a train ride lasting at least 10 hours, usually longer when there are delays). This aspect you can plan for.

I guess if you're also inclined, you could use jury duty as a pickup scene & get to know hot prospective jurors who also want to leave & can think of better things they could be doing. Why not, right? That's better than harassing women on Facebook or LinkedIn under the guise of business networking. There were some hotties when I went; maybe there will be more next time & some will have the balls to approach me. I always like to see about prospective networking as well so if that can happen, what the hey? Another productive use of time.

But let's see: Why would you want me to be on your jury when my presence is NOT being compensated by my employer (as I'm self-employed) & I'm worrying about the loss of income from being there? What type of objectivity or any sense of fairness are you going to get from a juror who resents the state stealing their income by forcing them to work for below city, state and federal minimum wage? Attorneys used to be exempt from jury duty by virtue of being attorneys. This apparently is no longer the case yet attorneys make significantly more money, know how trials work and could easily sway non-attorneys on that jury to agree with them if they have some bias against the accused or the prosecution. I was hoping maybe me knowing a lot of attorneys in my city could get me kicked out since you can't be on the jury of a lawyer you know personally (the other side would assume you're going to side with your friend's client or if it's an enemy, your enemy will presume you're going to nail their client). Solo practitioners are being taken away from clients & not getting compensated by anybody else so why shouldn't they be exempt? Same for appearance attorneys like yours truly. Entire practices could crumble from such requirements. Isn't that screwing over other people who might have cases going to jury trials?

Honestly, though I think you'd get fewer people objecting if they were paid at least minimum wage for the city, state or country. If someone isn't being compensated by an employer, they would not have to worry they'd lose their home or ability to work due to jury service. Minimum wage at least would make people feel less resentful about serving & you wouldn't have people doing what Pauly Shore's character did in "Jury Duty" (see that movie if you haven't; I was so happy one of my Facebook friends actually knew that movie when I mentioned it since it's somewhat obscure and many people don't get my obscure references). Money for lunch would also be nice. Weirdly, I'm not even sure what's in the area of the courthouse where I have to serve. I know it for the county I served in before.

I've heard some great lines to use to get out of jury duty as well that I could consider but for now, these are my ideas for why people don't like doing it and how we could fix that.

An Interesting Lawyer Ethics Discussion

Fighting massive injury & because I had to use it or lose it, I braved the subway & the NYC streets of Union Square to get to a special screening of a documentary called "Unraveled" on Friday (for those who didn't read my last post, I've been laid up with a sprained ankle & was traveling on crutches). This was for free attorney CLE credit for Ethics, the category that is usually harder to get for free (even if you're an experienced lawyer). I've noticed most of those programs cost money.

I & my lucky teammates, however got in for free b/c that was the prize for the '90s Trivia Contest we participated in for a Young Lawyer's event. Personally, I felt extremely gratified at winning that thing since for me it was showing that you should be nice to me & kicking some lawyer butt (plus taking down that whole "BigLaw lawyers are God & the rest of you are shit" ethic). Also met some female attorneys who weren't half bad & left thanking my lucky stars that I don't have to deal with the dating scene as a lawyer. From what I hear, it's a messy business & I'd probably have male attorneys at these associations bothering me on a regular basis.

If that sounds arrogant or snotty, let's consider this from an objective viewpoint & how much hassle I endure regularly simply for looking as I do. Probably not far off after you look at it from that angle. I mean, who else got hit on by a lawyer working at a firm that had a table at a career fair? I'm not even sure my wearing glasses in public would change that, though I think I look horrid in them. One of these days, I'll have to show my industry peeps how I look in them so they can tell me honestly if I'm being dramatic or if I'm right.

Anyhow, it was a total endurance test to get there though I came prepared (put my hair up, didn't wear anything too warm, didn't take my purse). As usual, the theater staff was much more friendly & accommodating than the lawyers I was at the event with. I was directed to the handicap accessible areas to get to the theater I had to go to & in that time, hadn't seen a chair except for one near an employee area. I sat down & no one bothered me. If someone had, I'd have asked where I could sit until I could go into my theater for my screening.

So, I saw the documentary. I'm not going to give you a synopsis or a history since you can Google that yourself. Plus, I don't feel particularly motivated to promote a film by a director that didn't bother to have the good sense to speak to the woman on crutches & make her feel welcome. I noted that he's apparently a filmmaker/BigLaw guy but apparently he's more "lawyer first, creative second" as opposed to someone like me who cares more about the creative side. I can't really tell what the artistic intent was for the documentary; just seemed like a colder transaction to me in all of the discussion (we also got a Q&A). Personally, I thought maybe the filmmaker was trying to humanize this guy. I saw that when you saw this lawyer hugging his dog goodbye & talking about how that dog who he'd had for 7 years had been his only friend.

Good motivator not to commit crime, right (or at least any carrying long prison terms)? See a picture of your dog or cat & think about how upset you'd be having to leave your pets.

The Q&A afterwards was very interesting, though. I didn't see much compassion or sympathy with the director or really anyone else. A few notable details you may like:

* The head of the ethics department at this bar association talked about the lawyer's motivation to start his crime (he had a high profile, wealthy client who'd caused him to get sanctioned & fined as a result of representing that client & did not even so much as apologize, much less help pay some of these fines). The ethics person said that attorneys commonly get pissed off at clients who don't appreciate them & the like but never offered the solution I used for my situations: cut that client loose.

I personally have no tolerance for disrespect or such behavior. If it were me, I'd kick your ass metaphorically & immediately not represent you if you undermine my authority or disrespect me. My representation, just as my friendship or good favor, is a privilege, not a right. If you're in a legal case where the judge has to approve of your terminating representation, that's one thing but I'd go to the judge & say "Look, this person is not listening to me, undermines my authority, (whatever the beef is) & I don't feel I can provide effective advocacy to him/her/it. I want out ASAP." & point to the ethics rule saying as much. At least with a firm, you could assign a different attorney if there's a personality clash.

My bad experiences in representing folks have made me far less tolerant of BS & more likely not to stand for it. Hey, if you don't respect yourself no one else is going to. I have a standard of basic human decency & if you want to be a prick to ME or not pay me, you can handle your legal matters by your lonesome or find a doormat who'll stand for it. My charity will be done at Monday Night Law & for friends/family/trusted sources, not exploitative jerkwads with an entitlement complex. Even then, my charity has a limit.

One time, I was called a bulldog. Mistreat them & they WILL turn on you.

* Another point made in this discussion was that the bar association had been trying to show attorneys that the key to success was not money or prestige.

Ha! Can we say "mixed messages?" Hell, I think that statement was totally ironic along with absolutely ludicrous (though I'm sure the speaker would tell you he didn't mean it that way). Ask these same people how much outreach they give to attorneys not working in the big law firms or how much denigration you'll hear them make about attorneys going to certain lower ranked schools. I've heard this myself as a member of the Entertainment Committee at City Bar.

Let's also examine that incident I heard about at Monday Night Law with the non-profit organization demanding volunteers to be from big law firms vs. solos or in-house lawyers.

How much support & validity do these same lawyers give to folks like me who are running businesses & not making a six figure paycheck?

What snobbery do you see regularly from this corner?

How much catering do these people do for BigLaw & figures in that arena on a regular basis?

I see quite a bit of this & that makes it more than understandable why many attorneys who are creatives first wouldn't be caught dead at bar association events. You think anyone would bother recognizing ME or giving ME respect for things I'm doing? No, I bet I could end up a public figure & these assholes still wouldn't bother reaching out to me for things or respecting my authority in my sphere. That's why my basic attitude is "Fuck them. I'll stick to my creative folks who DO respect me & don't make me feel I should grovel to them b/c I don't have some T1 school or big law firm name in my resume."

I could write a tome on how these law firm attorneys alienate people like me. Now there are some individuals who get it & if they read this, would likely see my point here (the president of NYCLA is one of them). Those aren't the ones who poo poo my career or act like I'm not worthy of breathing the same air as them b/c I don't work in BigLaw.

How about we get over this 7th grade mentality of "I'm better than you b/c I was on law review & work in a big law firm?" How about representation & chances for leadership from people away from BigLaw & the Ivy League? When I see a bar association doing that, then you may start making those statements. I've yet to see this, though I will give this one credit for installing its current president (who did recently get a huge promotion at his big law firm & I told him maybe it would make me less cynical about BigLaw in general since he got recognition). However, it's going to be a very long & hard climb to get me to change my opinion of the legal culture & legal establishment as a whole. In fact, I definitely think this attempt to change my mind could very well be a lost cause.

* Someone who went to high school with the documentary's subject speaks up about how he'd applied early admission to 2 schools in contravention of early admission rules & got into both, angering his classmates.

Okay, that didn't really piss me off since A) the early admission policies I know of tend to be rather draconian & leave no time to apply elsewhere if your early admission place rejects you & B) why did this guy get admitted as a lawyer if he'd have to disclose everything & presumably disclosed or lied about it? Good old boys network politics rearing its ugly head? Separate rules for the Ivy League graduates? Laxer standards for admission in the '70s? Makes you wonder.

Not that I condone doing this but I can understand why someone might do it (it's a reason I don't put myself in situations where I'd be tempted to do the same thing). Guess that sums up my view of the documentary: I wouldn't personally do it & I don't really condone it (seems like way too much work & too sleazy for me) but I understand motivation/the "why" aspect. I also noticed the room taking a very judgey tone, which I found interesting. Yes, theft is theft but are we to see this particular crime as a grey area? How far would people go? This guy at least seemed to have some remorse, which is more than you see in many people.

I think if the legal profession really wanted to avoid stuff like this in the future, it would re-examine its culture, its values & who gets rewarded or punished in employment decisions, bar associations, assigning credibility, etc. Perhaps this guy should have gotten an Oscar for that snow job since that would require some acting skills, don't you think?

Oh, and another lesson. If someone shows up to your film in crutches, try being decent to them. Don't shove in front of their space, okay? I can still be hell on crutches, trust me on this. And...it pisses me off after working my ass off to get someplace when someone doesn't seem all that fazed by my effort in showing up. Little does this guy know about me...and I definitely don't help those who abuse my trust or screw over me or my friends. I'm not promoting another activity at this bar association b/c of mistreatment toward my friend. I noticed that they extended their deadline for entries & I thought "Well, shouldn't have lied to my friend about her film."

The Benefits of a Live Program (chuckle)

I got an e-mail a few days ago from the NYC Bar Association that had this heading. When I saw it, I laughed. I'll tell you why in a bit.

First, let me explain this entry's title for those who aren't attorneys or professionals w/Continuing Education requirements to keep working in your field. If you have a professional license to do something (in my case being a lawyer), part of keeping that license is getting CLE (Continuing Legal Education) hours. There are certain types & amounts that you have to meet in a certain time period or you don't get to renew your professional license. If you're a lawyer, not meeting the CLE requirement usually means you're in hot water w/the state bar committee since they decide who gets to be a lawyer & who doesn't.

To meet these CLE hours, you can either go to a course in person or get DVDs/CDs of the courses in exchange for meeting the hours. In NY, you MUST attend in person for the first 2 years you've been admitted before getting to buy DVDs/CDs and doing it on your own.

Now, just like every lawyer I've met who works on the creative side of this industry, I'm not a big fan of bar associations as a whole. How come? Well:

A) A general problem w/the attitude & mindset of your typical lawyer
B) No one's doing what I'm doing. I'm lucky to meet an entertainment lawyer who only handles the legal side.
C) The utter lack of consideration for new attorneys or the impact the recession has had on them. There are events I'd go to, but I'm not paying $20 to go. I wouldn't even pay that to go to a club.

I also wouldn't go to NYC Bar for basic CLE programs since the price for them is highway robbery. NYCLA (New York County Lawyers Association) is my preferred vendor since their courses are about 1/2 the price of City Bar's & for Bridge the Gap, it was a decent rate. Now I've not taken courses as someone who isn't a newly admitted lawyer & City Bar may have more things for my industry but for basic stuff, I'd recommend NYCLA.

So you may wonder why I'm in ANY bar association? Fair question. CLE discounts, retailer discounts, access to the library & being on City Bar's entertainment committee.

I also figure I'll do much more quality networking through my involvement in City Bar & honestly have had more pleasant experiences at their events than I have at NYCLA's. Lawyers at many of the City Bar events have treated me as a colleague instead of as some newbie lawyer that has to impress them.

I don't have to impress ANY lawyer; in fact, it's not my task to actively impress most people. If I can't stand on my own without schmoozing or brown-nosing then I don't deserve anything from you, right? I generally don't have that kind of problem but tons of lawyers act that way & if you want to make me an enemy, just act like an elitist asshole w/no personality. Telling me to tolerate the game really doesn't make me want to hang around lawyers or have a damn thing to do with them, regardless of my being one. It just makes me cling to my perceptions even harder.

To give you an example of how out of place I am w/most lawyers, I actually left the NYCLA Young Lawyer's committee because I felt ignored. I made comments at the only meeting I went to that weren't even in the minutes. I didn't feel like a valued member or someone whose opinion counted; nor did anyone make me feel like they wanted to talk to me & obviously, no one was doing what I do.

How many people would you think have talked to me at any live CLE event? Come on, guess? Give up?

Two. These weren't even conversations that led to any future contact or friendship, nor went beyond simple pleasantries. So I find it hilarious that a bar association would try to encourage me to go to a live course by saying I can network there.

How can I network when no one bothers to even exchange pleasantries with me? I've heard other people at these events talk about the snobbery of other lawyers attending. To any lawyer's snobbery to me, I say "Fuck you & the horse you rode in on." I've forgotten more about being a snob than you're ever going to know, believe it or not. I was called a prep in middle school despite being tormented by that very crowd & being stuck in classes with them. I'm sure people are STILL calling me a snob since I'm quiet and have to get to know you before I'll even think about trusting you with minor stuff.

People who do the same stuff I do in the industry have told me about feeling the exact same way about going to live CLE events & seeing the exact same attitude. I bet a good chunk of it is envy & jealousy among these jerks since we don't have to impress THEM or play their game.

Let's also get something else straight about networking: when it's with lawyers, you're NEVER on equal footing unless one's years in practice, technical skill or ability to stop you from moving up are a non-issue. I think it's a non-issue in creative stuff like stage performance or playing a game unrelated to the legal field but otherwise, forget it. It's just a dog & pony show.

The creative arena is MUCH more supportive of newer people in the field & doesn't work as a hierarchy with respect to people doing different jobs. Not all actors can become directors or producers & the skills are different for all those jobs. There are directors and producers who were never actors. Yeah there are rules but overall, there's also much more respect & a willingness to pay it forward than I see in the legal field. Not to mention encouraging individuality & doing things differently, unlike with typical lawyers. I see a lot less snobbery among higher ups in entertainment since there's consequences for that.

The biggest thing that bothers me about lawyers is a total lack of loyalty to fellow lawyers. There's so much back-biting, put downs & clique mentality, it's not funny. I left that 7th grade behavior in 7th grade; it was immature then & it's even more immature to see it in grown ups.

So needless to say, I'll be getting CLE credits on my own & through alternate efforts. I'm thrilled I never have to go to a live course ever again. The only lawyer acquaintances or friends I have either worked in the industry, have some creative bone in their body or had similar struggles to mine so they're also calling BS on stuff like this. Those people are cool with me; otherwise, I join in the chorus of people who say they hate lawyers.