Peachhead is an online community for parents in the Los Angeles community, although it now has branches in other cities. My wife and I lived in Los Angeles and find it to be a wonderful forum for parents sharing their concerns, ideas, and recommendations. My wife has pointed me to a recent dialogue on the forum which was sparked by a quite valid concern by one parent about how and whether she could postpone or avoid jury duty given her responsibilities as a primary caregiver. Here’s one of the responses the parent received, from a parent who identified herself as a lawyer:
Financial hardship isn’t a fool-proof excuse anymore. Many judges don’t believe you when you say that, or don’t care. Your best bet is the childcare excuse, and if that fails, and you actually have to go down, just make yourself as undesirable as possible during voir dire, and get yourself kicked off. I have had success by saying, in a civil case, that if a case gets to trial, it means that the plaintiff doesn’t have a good case, and I have a natural inclination to side with defendants, being a defense attorney. But you could say anything showing a bias of any kind, and it’s enough to get kicked off a jury panel. Good luck!
Here’s your exam question: How many rules of professional responsibility, if any, has this lawyer just violated?
Posted by Paul Horwitz on June 1, 2007 at 09:38 AM
Comments
In ontario at least, lawyers can’t be on juries.
Posted by: a | Jun 1, 2007 4:58:51 PM