No juries in work comp cases in Illinois. Thank God for that!
I was assigned to jury duty today for the first time in my life. Last night I called the juror hot-line and discovered that my service was going to be postponed for one week. Off the hook for today, but it's a temporary reprieve.
I've been an attorney since 1997, but almost never appear before a jury because Illinois workers' compensation claims are decided by Arbitrators. This saves time, money and helps cases move forward. It also doesn't put the fate of a client in the hands of someone who doesn't want to be there.
I always hear about people dreading jury service and never really put much thought in to it because it never had been something I had to deal with. But getting the jury summons and having to think about going to the jury pool when I've got 1,000 other things I'd rather do really helped me understand why people dread it. I even googled how to get out of jury duty just out of curiosity (not that I would ever do that). I imagine being a lawyer I won't get picked and even if I do get picked it won't be that bad.
All that said, when I think of how this will interrupt my practice, I imagine that others feel the same way and would guess that there are people who do get picked that are bitter the whole time or rush a decision just so they can get home. I would hope that I wouldn't sub-consciously do that and just make the best of it.
Either way, I'm thankful for me and my clients that their fate is decided by an Arbitrator, not a jury. It allows us to help more people and makes cases go faster.
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