Jury Will Be ‘In’ at Gathering of Bar Association

0

It may seem astounding to some, but the theme of the American Bar Association’s Section of Litigation Annual Conference in Los Angeles later this month is “Restoring the Jury Trial.”


Business people and others who receive pesky summons notices with startling regularity may wonder whether jury trials should be restrained rather than restored.


But lawyers see a different reality. Even though lawsuit filings are increasing in L.A. along with the rest of the country and courtroom crowding remains a serious issue, more cases are being sent to mediation and arbitration, in some cases to protect the parties from public scrutiny, and in others, to sidestep the long and expensive litigation process. As a result, a smaller percentage of the growing number of lawyers are getting experience in court.


“I think that the jury trial is incredibly important to our system and to our whole democracy,” said Brad Brian, a partner specializing in white-collar crime at Munger Tolles & Olson LLP, and chair of sectional litigation for the bar association. “It is a very fair and democratic way of resolving disputes and it enables our citizens to participate in decisions.”


While trial lawyers are a minority in the legal profession, many in the bar association see working a jury as a dying art.


“Until you try a case, you don’t know what you need to do to prepare a trial and one of the points of this conference is to team up with people and learn to have a plan right from the start,” Brian said.


The event starts April 20 with Dr. Phil McGraw of “Dr. Phil” fame, who was a jury consultant when he met Oprah Winfrey. Speakers include Mike Tigar, who represented Terry Nichols; Martha Stewart lawyer Robert Marvillo; and local class action expert Tom Girardi. The event will wind up two days later with a debate between former independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr and former U.S. Solicitor General Walter Dillinger on the constitutionality of domestic wiretapping.

No posts to display