r/juryduty

I’m literally the only one in my family that is actually doing jury duty so I have no idea what is going on and how long this is going to take. Any tips so I can prepare?

Hey, all.

So I have been asked to report for jury duty in Los Angeles this Monday.

I am currently unemployed and broke and looking for work. On top of this, I have an elderly, disabled mother who lives out of state and, since my father passed a couple years ago, I am literally her only help when emergencies arise. Mainly health issues.

I have had to go and help her for the better part of these last two years, which has forced me to burn through my savings, leaving me with very little left.

Now I don't necessarily want to get out of serving, but anything longer than two weeks will most likely break me financially. Plus, there is the possibility that I will have to rush to help my mother mid-trial if it's longer than that.

Here is my questions:

1. During voir dire for a trial that would take longer than a week or two, would it behoove me to simply be honest when it comes to both this financial hardship and the situation with my mother and simply mention that I cannot serve on a trial any longer, if that turns out to be the case.

Like I said, I want to do my civic duty, but my own survival is very dependent on the length of the trial.

I served on a NYC Supreme Court jury back in March and cannot find my proof of service document… and I just got another summons to serve again this month!

I’ve tried all available numbers and can’t get in touch with anyone (it’s all automated). Anyone have history with getting a new copy of their proof of service? Maybe I’ll need to go in person to request?

I'm hoping someone who has actually gone through Cuyahoga County jury duty can help.

My summons tells me to call 216 443 6608. When I call that number, the recording says there are no new trials on Monday and to call back Monday evening for Tuesday. It never mentions draw numbers or reporting ranges.

The Cuyahoga County Common Pleas website tells jurors to call 216 698 2977. That recording says draw numbers 1 through 470 are to report on Monday to the 4th floor of the Justice Center.

My draw number is within the 1 through 470 range.

So one official Cuyahoga County phone number is telling me not to come in Monday, while another official Cuyahoga County phone number is telling me to come in Monday.

Has anyone else had this exact situation?

Which phone number did you follow?

Did you call the Jury Commission to verify which one was correct?

If you followed the summons recording and stayed home, did everything work out?

If you showed up anyway, did they send you home or give you documentation for your employer showing that you appeared?

I'm looking for responses from people who have actually dealt with this because the official information appears to contradict itself, and I don't want to either miss jury duty or unnecessarily miss work.

So I got a blue postcard (WA state) saying im on call for the week of August 10th. The problem? I have a vacation a week after on the 20th that I already have PTO coverage on. (As in the boss already approved it)….which is all the PTO I have at the moment. I know I absolutely cannot miss 2 weeks of work as I won’t have the financial coverage on it. I’ve been planning this vacation for a year and it’s non-cancelable. Do I just call up the courthouse and explain this to them? The post card said for one week or one full trial, whichever is longer.

On Monday I was selected to be on a jury, and now that it is concluded I can finally talk about it! Feel free to ask follow up questions and I will try to answer them.

**The basics:**

Civil trial. Plaintiff wants damages pain and suffering related to a vehicle accident in 2019. He claimed that he had no symptoms before but had back issues, neck issues, and depression related to the accident. His wife also wants Loss of Consortium for damages to her life as a result (relationship and other). The defendant, was a man in his 80s driving a semi truck (who died late 2025), and his trucking company LLC which was previously an interstate trucking company but at the time of accident was solely used as a single farm vehicle driven exclusively by the defendant.

**The Complicating Factors (Plaintiff):**

\-The plaintiff and his wife had a history of, and are currently, Registered Nurses, but at the time were working on a privately owned wedding venue of significant sentimental value.

\-After the accident, the plaintiff was no longer able to keep up with his duties in the business and his wife had to take on more of those duties. The couple eventually had to sell the business (their dream) and go back to nursing.

\- The plaintiff's medical record were spotty at best. They showed conflicting reports from different doctors about what pain was claimed by the plaintiff. The man also has a mild concussion from the accident. (As nurses, should plaintiff and wife been more on top advocating for his care?)

\- The Pandemic also happened during this time. It was a hard time for everyone and I'm sure that had some impact on the business in general as well as possibly the plaintiff's health and ability to get timely medical care.

\- The Plaintiff's children were also working at the venue but stopped when leaving for college in 2020 and 2022. It was around 2021 that they started the process to sell the venue and that sale was completed in 2024.

\- The Plaintiff was in an additional collision in 2022 where he suffered another concussion (head trauma is cumulative, so the first may have impacted the second and it is unknowable how much effect would have occurred from each). Scans from before and after the 2022 accident don't show any meaningful diagnostic info, only that he is within normal brain function (even if not at his previous capacity)

\- The plaintiff was also in his early 50's at the time, with Paget's Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, signs of degenerative disc disease, all of which could potentially lead to similar issues and are not related to the accident.

\- The main doctor linking his pain with the 2019 accident was a neurosurgeon first seen in 2025. So we don't know if there is something specific about that specialty used in that determination or what.

**The Complicating Factors (Defendant):**

\- Obviously, being dead is a bit of a hinderance. As is the company no longer existing. he was able to give a video deposition before he passed away.

\- His grandson represented the trucking company (with no financial stake) and his grandfather (presumably with inheritance, but this was not discussed if any decision in this case would impact the grandson... Presumably not).

\- The defendant did have to pass yearly eye exams to maintain his Commercial Driving License (CDL). There was no indication that the defendant had any issues drigin nor was there a history of accidents linked to him.

\- The company before 2014 was an interstate trucking company, but after that time was used solely as a farm vehicle to sell grain.

\- The company did have a history of safety violations and accidents from the Dept of Transportation prior to 2014, but those could have been hired drivers. Basically all records from the company itself were absent (in fact, this was one of the violations listed). There were some violations listed after 2018 both before and after 2019 accident, most of which were things like not wearing a seat belt and equipment issues like out of date fire extinguisher.

\- The defendant was basically the company. How do we separate the person from the company and what each was responsible for?

**The Questions:**

\-What, if any, damages should be awarded to the plaintiff for pain caused by the 2019 accident? Extra hard given medical history and subsequent accident.

\- What damages would be awarded to his wife based on what she lost? What was lost from this accident vs from other factors?

\- Should the defendant have to pay punitive damages in disregarding warnings, creating an unsafe environment and knowing better, and disregarding the safety of others (punishment to deter him or other people from acting in the same manner)?

\- Should the trucking company have to pay punitive damages in disregarding warnings, creating an unsafe environment and knowing better, and disregarding the safety of others?

**Our Verdict:**

\- A minimum of 9 jurors had to agree, we had 10 agree. We spent a total of about 6 hours deliberating, which was I think far greater than the judge and lawyers were expecting, but reached a fair verdict.

\- We awarded the plaintiff damages for past and future pain and suffering amounting to $260,000. One juror was not agreeable to an award this low.

\- We awarded his wife $45,000. She had clear and provable distress, but imo nothing that couldn't be worked on1 with therapy. A second juror was not agreeable to this award being so low.

\- We decided that the defendant did not receive punitive damages (it was an accident, and accidents happen. A punishment here wouldn't affect anyone's future behaviors. All 12 jurors agreed that punitive damages were not warranted here.

\- We decided that the Trucking Company was liable for $50,000 in punitive damages. Basically, the company made a poor and reckless decision to allow the defendant to drive (as two different entities, even though they were the same person) to the disregard of for the safety of others. Specifically and especially for not addressing the safety issues with their drivers, even though the defendant was most at a safety risk for the company failing to correct the violations. All 12 jurors agreed that punitive damages were warranted, and the amount of punitive damages was deliberated as part of a second verdict to which 10/12 agreed with on juror feeling that amount was too high and another that it was too low (both different that the jurors that disagreed previously). This was incredibly difficult to decide.

\- I got paid $72 for these 4 days (33ish hours) of work. Plus 3 lunches and some snacks.

I received a summons for 6 to 18 months of federal *grand* jury service.

I was seriously thinking of exploring other job opportunities in the next year. I could raise it with the clerk/judge, but I doubt they would entertain it since right now it’s only aspirational and I don’t have any applications out.

And suppose I really DID get a new job during the term. Would I get in trouble for doing so?

Hi everyone I’m currently a college student and was summoned to Pittsfield. I go to school in North Adams and don’t have a car so my plan for jury duty was going via the bus system. It will take me around 2 hours one way. As you can imagine I really don’t have the time to be making that trek regularly if I get assigned a long case. Unfortunately being a college student doesn’t excuse me from jury duty.

Is there anything that I should say to hopefully get me excused from jury duty? I was thinking about saying something like I don’t trust cops (which I do have my reservations about).

My wife was recently sent a letter saying that she would be a backup telephone juror and to call today for more information. Now that she called, they told her she has to go in person on Monday, which is an issue as we have non-refundable tickets for a museum on that day. They say that to postpone jury duty you have to send a letter at least 10 days prior, but she wasn't even given 10 days' notice of when she'd have to report, or even that she'd have to report in person at all. How exactly do they expect people to give advanced notice for postponement if they don't even give enough advanced notice for us to know?

I have summons to WA King County Superior Court in August. My wife and I both have been mandated to return to office in the last few months. We have no other childcare options so we entered our 2 year old into daycare. This daycare has strict dropoff hours of 845am and pickup hours of 330pm. Any earlier or later than those times would incur fees. Because of our work schedules, I'm the one that does daycare dropoff and pickup.

​

I'm pretty sure reporting times for jury duty are 8-9am til 4-430pm. I can't make those times because of the dropoff/pickup times.

​

I don't see our work schedules getting changed anytime soon so I can't necessarily defer this summons to another time.

​

Would this be a valid reason to get excused?

This is so crazy. I never knew Waco Federal Court could call its neighboring counties for their residents to do Jury Duty.
First they force you to fill out the qualifier, and I say force because if you don't you know the penalties.
The qualifier: Is this you? Do you live at such address. Are you handicapped. You qualify!

Then they send you your summons, and you fill out the survey.

You're on the hook to call for 3 months to see if you are selected!

You have to call this number or go on line to see if you have to report. You call on Friday after 5:30 pm. No jury duty! Yay for me.

Wednesday I get a call, you are to report for Jury duty on such date and time, no phones allowed, leave it in the car.

So, why call on Friday after 5:30 pm, then? Because you're the lucky winner that can be called for jury duty as many times as we want, and to pull trial duty as many times as we want within those three months!

I live over an hour away, I'd rather do this in my local county. This is crazy.

https://preview.redd.it/lcbzy9u44pah1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=90339d24e910a6a74e30d944899e92bdb818d0a1

I have severe panic attack's and havent been able to drive further than a few miles from home because of it. I've been prescribe a bunch of medication's (some of which dont allow me to drive while under the influence of them). I haven't been given an explicit diagnosis of why this is happening, but i'm wondering if this would qualify me for dismissal? I would really like to avoid having to uber to the court house

I live in Texas. today a police officer randomly came and knocked on my door saying if I wanted to volunteer to be on a jury duty Is this normal? FYI I have no warrants and Ive never been in trouble.

Ive just got in from work and found the letter. im just a regular joe in a normal job- i thought only professionals got called up.

I somehow need childcare cover on top of my usual work hours. I called the number and was probably the most sarcastic rude person ive encountered in a long time- talking 100mph about how I can claim back. I asked him to repeat it as i didn't understand and haven't had anything to do with legal/court stuff before and he just kept saying 'oh just ask your jury officier'.

Im absolutely petrified of being in groups of people and have an awful habit of my face going very very red when people look at me or talk to me in public.

I know theres no getting out of it- im just kind of shocked at the lack of information and only a few weeks notice. Its also over an hour commute so will be an hour at least to get home as well. Has anyone actually had a short/good experience with jury duty?

I got a summons for a Grand Jury yesterday. They include two sets of dates as options to select a preference. The dates are each Wednesday for about two months. Am I correct in gathering that I will need to be at Jury Duty for all of those dates; going in once per week for a couple of months?

Received a jury summons… I have always appropriately responded. Everyone says they just throw theirs in the trash, as there is no proof that you actually received the notice. Has anyone actually had and consequences for ignoring a jury summons? Please share

I got the message on the portal that I was chosen to serve starting tomorrow.
I have a trip planned that I am leaving for on Thursday for about a week. My job also doesn’t pay me if I don’t show up for my shifts if I’m serving.
Which option should I tell them that would give me the best chance of not getting chosen?

Hi, I just recently finished being on a juror for a second-degree murder case. I couldn’t possibly explain the entirety of the case without typing an essay. But it was a case with two brothers. One was a complete to be honest horrible person (the victim 56). He had past charges surrounding the rape or his first wife and had been sexually aggressive with multiple family members including his sisters. The defendant ( 52) on the other hand had experienced a lot of trauma. He was a correctional officer for 24 years and had experienced the death of an inmate during a cell extraction. This was very hard and traumatic for all of the guards involved. 4 correctional officer committed suicide by self inflicted gun wounds over the duration of four years. Their father ( the defendants and victims) had also committed suicide when the defendant was 21 years old. He was living with his dad and found his father in his room, he had committed suicide by a self inflicted gun wound. All around there is so much more this man had went through throughout his life. Too much to type. But the long story short is. I do really feel like the defendant is a good man he just got dealt shitty cards and was having an emotional break. He was claiming the defense of EED (extreme emotional disturbance). Although after deep thought in deliberation we as a jury came to the conclusion that the defendant did not meet the criteria given by the court. The night after deliberation I couldn’t sleep I was just thinking. Did I make the wrong decision ? Not because I believe he was in an extreme emotional state, but because I do feel some sort of empathy for the defendant. I cried to my mother the morning after I feel so guilty like I locked a man away for the rest of his life. I know it’s truly what needed to happen but I can’t help but feel this heaviness over me.

I’m in Monroe County, NY and just got summoned for jury duty with 5 business days of standby starting July 16, and my number is 73. I have a short trip planned from July 24–27, and I’m trying to figure out whether I should postpone or just go through with it. From what I understand, if I get called in even once and get dismissed the same day, my service is considered complete and I don’t have to keep calling in. But if I get selected for a trial, I’d have to serve until the trial ends, even if it goes past the standby window. My concern is whether it’s realistically possible to get selected for a trial late in the standby period (like July 21–22) that could run into July 24 or 27 and interfere with my trip. I’ve heard judges usually excuse people with pre‑planned travel, but I’m not sure how often trials actually run long enough to cause a conflict. Should I postpone to avoid any chance of overlap, or is the risk small enough that I shouldn’t worry? I don’t mind doing my civic duty, I’m just trying to avoid potential issues with travel plans that were confirmed months in advance. I’ve never had to report for jury duty before so this is all new to me.

UPDATE: I was able to get it rescheduled for the first week of November.

I have postponed twice, first online and the second via email as I had a stroke after childbirth. I received my next summons which says I must serve due to postponing. The issue is that it’s for July 16th and I have travel booked 17th-19th and work travel 21st-22nd. Do I go on the 16th and hope to get dismissed to have it count as served but risk running into issues about travel plans if I do get selected, or try postpone again via email? If I postpone again it’ll likely fall around Christmas where I’ll be out of the country for a month.