Hurry up and wait!

I might actually get to see the inside of a courtroom today. No, the bar has not yet decided to allow me to practice based simply on my brilliance. I have jury duty. So far, I have been assigned to a jury pool, but before the action got started, I was released for three hours while the lawyers went over our paperwork and made preliminary decisions. Because I listed my occupation as law student, I find it unlikely I will be placed on any jury during my next two days of duty. I probably could have written and requested to be released, but seeing as this might be the last chance ever to sit on a jury and considering I have rarely ever been in a courtroom, I thought it might be a good educational experience--I am getting a lot of my homework done.

If perchance I am put on a jury, I will not be blogging about my experience until it is over. I read an article a few months ago about a criminal case in New Jersey--I believe--that went all the way up to the state supreme court on a jury related appeal because one of the jury members had been blogging about his experience during the course of the trial. The supreme court ruled that his actions had not been material to the decision and had not influenced any of the other members of the jury, so they let the verdict stand. Personally, I do not want to take the risk. I am probably pushing the envelop right now by blogging from a coffee shop, while officially still on jury duty. Of course the bar has not admitted me yet, but when I have my JD and have passed the bar exam, I would hate to not get admitted because I committed a previous indiscretion or was the subject to a supreme court appeal. I am not a lawyer yet, but considering what I already know, I will probably be held to a higher standard if I were to come up before a bar ethics committee--something I hope never to face. With that said, I will post after this experience is over and leave you all with any other impressions I have, unless they are no different from my experience this morning: hurry up and wait*

*I borrowed this expression. Thanks! I hope this gives you credit without disrupting your anonymity.