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Although I’d have preferred, as an aspiring crime fiction writer, to have served in a criminal trial, the civil trial was fascinating in its own right.

The first thing that struck me was how, during voir dire, most people went to great pains to be honest. Almost everyone would have preferred not to be selected, if pre-voir dire chatter is any indication. Yet when presented with opportunities to say things that would likely have led to disqualification, most people went with the honest answer. For example, when the judge asked people to raise their hands if being selected would cause personal or professional hardships, many people did. However, most subsequently said that they could overcome those difficulties or that they could put those out of mind to focus on a trial. The easy way to escape service would have been to say, “No, I’ll be too worried about my child/job/employees to concentrate on the trial.”

Likewise, even though it would have been easier to claim a bias, most people said they could be impartial. Even a guy who had suffered a malpractice injury said, “I don’t think my experience would enter into my decision. If the plaintiff can’t prove it’s case, I could find for the defendant.”

And once we were on the jury, we all wanted to do a good job. We weren’t allowed to discuss the case until the judge charged us to deliver a verdict, but that didn’t stop us from talking about our attitude toward serving. At one time or another, all of us expressed the opinion that as much as we’d like to get this over with, we wouldn’t rush to a decision just to get it over with.

It was a good experience that gave me a deeper understanding of how hard civil lawsuits can be. There was an enormous amount of information for us to absorb, and we did it. An enormous amount of responsibility rested upon us, and we exercised it carefully and wisely. Not all trials are perfect, and few verdicts are easy to reach, but it is justice.