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Juror Shortage in Suffolk County Will Affect Business Litigants

As our local readers may have heard, Suffolk County is running out of jurors.

According to a June 10, 2007 article in the Boston Globe, the Suffolk County juror pool is running on fumes, and Suffolk may run out of jurors altogether by October 2007. The state legislature is considering a bill to tweak the juror service rule to shorten the time period within which a juror may be recalled, but this is a band aid solution.

Because criminal defendants have a constitutional right to a speedy trial, criminal proceedings will doubtless receive priority from the court in scheduling cases for trial. The impact on civil litigants will be more severe.

From a practical standpoint, this problem has multiple implications for business litigants. If you file an action in Suffolk County (including the Business Litigation Session) and request a jury trial, you may face significant delays in having your matter resolved. Opponents could use this problem tactically. In other words, even if you would opt for a bench trial, your opponent may demand a jury trial.

On the other hand, motions for summary judgment may start getting greater attention from the Suffolk Superior Court judges as a way to resolve cases. Judges once tempted to write "denied" in the margin and leave it to the jury may have greater incentive to analyze motions more carefully. Based on experience, however, litigants should probably hold only guarded optimism that the juror shortage will have this positive side effect.

If you are appearing in the Massachusetts Superior Court in Suffolk County and would rather have a bench trial than a jury trial, this is a good time to file a motion to strike your opponent's jury demand. If you are defending and have a basis to remove, you should also consider the impact of the juror shortage.

In sum, litigants must be aware of the Suffolk County juror shortage and consider it when selecting the forum to resolve their dispute.

Some Startling Statistics on the (Lack of) Use of Courtroom Technology

Fully 64% of courtroom lawyers never use a laptop in the courtroom according to the most recent American Bar Association technology survey. (Learn more at www.lawtechnology.org.) Most lawyers have laptops but do not use them in court. Of the 36% of attorneys who have used them, only 26% used them to make a presentation. These statistics suggest that more than 9 out of 10 litigators have never made a computer presentation in the courtroom.

OCM believes this is an obvious opportunity to give its clients an edge. Visual aids dramatically improve recall. Studies show that after 3 hours, a person will remember only 40 percent of information conveyed orally, but 85 percent of information conveyed both orally and visually. After 3 days, recall of oral information drops to 15%, but recall of oral/visual information holds at 65%. Accordingly, lawyers commonly use charts, diagrams and other visual aids to convey their message.

But paper charts are no longer sufficient. In a world where virtually everyone was raised on a steady diet of television, and computers and video games are also widespread, jurors (and judges) are conditioned to respond to information conveyed digitally. Concise, logical computer presentations can give litigants a distinct competitive advantage in the courtroom. Lawyers and clients should always consider using this valuable tool.

Creating Winning Trial Strategies and Graphics,
G. Christopher Ritter (ABA 2004, $199.00).

OCM recommends Ritter's book about creating courtroom graphics. Ritter not only provides a wealth of examples, but also discusses principles of persuasion and juror decision making that drive the creation and use of visual aids in court. In one particularly useful chart for the busy trial lawyer, Ritter organizes the common types of information that a lawyer must present at trial, and suggests standard graphics to consider first.

Creating Winning Trial Strategies and Graphics repays time spent reading it cover to cover, but a lawyer on the eve of trial can also productively refer to it for quick ideas and guidance. This book is a winning addition to the trial lawyer’s bookshelf.