Dutiful.

For years, I've wanted to serve on a jury. It could be professional curiosity. It could be that when I was a kid, my dad served on a jury for a case involving nunchucks. But, so few lawyers ever get seated. I know I wouldn't affirmatiely pick a lawyer as one of my jurors. (Oddly, the one exception that comes to mind is a senior partner, chair of his department, being picked to serve on a rape case recently. There was no doubt he would be foreman, especially after he requested a side bar with a judge. I don't know how that didn't result in an automatic mistrial but it didn't.)

So, I was excited to receive my jury duty notice. Less excited to see that it was all the way up in Skokie at 9:00 am. Nonetheless, I was looking forward to a legitimate reason to be out of the office, relatively inaccessible, and the opportunity to do my civic duty. For the first half an hour or so, I found the process interesting and instructive. Particularly, the video they show. Like how a bill becomes a law, but how a citizen becomes a juror and less cartoon-y and song-filled. But, after that, the waiting, lack of information, and boredom set in. I had a pro bono criminal case in Skokie recently so I was able to figure out that the trial was a criminal trial and we were waiting out the regular morning call. I knew that the morning call should be done by 11. But as it approached noon, not a single person had been called in for questioning and possible service. Right around noon, they informed us we were dismissed -- the defendant had called an audible and opted for a bench trial.

Overall, not a bad morning -- and I have a check for $17 to show for it.