NYU Civil Jury Project

“I was nervous upon attending but one hour into Day 1, I was beyond excited for all that was yet to come. From start to finish, I was in awe at the attention to detail and the knowledge of all faculty members. I will forever remember and be grateful for the skills and knowledge learned in this training. Thank you for ALL that you do.”

“Finally, gosh, I just cannot thank you enough for this opportunity. It was invaluable and I cannot wait to put these skills to use...and build on them. I learned so much. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

“I absolutely enjoyed this training. Judge Drummond and his incomparable faculty provided me and the other participants with invaluable knowledge and the skills to succeed. I am beyond grateful that I was able to attend the training.”

Above are just a handful of the comments we received from the ABA-NITA 2024 Advocacy Training Course for legal services attorneys. Legal services attorneys came from the states of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia. Attorneys came from offices such as Birmingham AIDS Outreach, MS Center for Legal Services, MS Center for Justice, GA Legal Services Program, Legal Services Alabama, Volunteer Lawyers Birmingham, Disability Rights Louisiana, YWCA-Central Alabama Chapter, and the Montgomery County Public Defender Office.

A lot of people helped make this happen.

We thank Anne Marie Seibel (2023-2024 chair of the ABA’s Litigation Section) and her entire team at the Bradley firm for hosting us. We thank trial lawyers from Bradley and Alabama, including Anne Marie Seibel, Leigh Anne Hodge, Josh Jones, Jennifer McGahey, Blake Milner, Jamie Moore, Craig Shirley, Daniel Fortune, Chuck Stewart (from Montgomery), and Harold Stephens (from Huntsville). John Hutchins traveled from the Atlanta office of Baker Hostetler to assist with the training as he has done in the past. Having his experience with this program is invaluable.

NITA provided the case file and the NITA Foundation provided travel funding for NITA trainers Prya Murad (Florida) and Dominique Hinson (Texas). Christine McHugh, NITA’s Public Service Programs Coordinator, assisted from the NITA side and Monica Reyes, ABA Litigation Program Specialist assisted pre-program and on site. The Bradley support team of firm Pro Bono Counsel Tiffany Graves, Shelby Harrison, and Lauren Wallace provided a welcoming and seamless experience for the attendees.

Planning is already underway for our next training.

Our founder, Steve Susman, lamented the lack of real trial lawyers and real trial judges as a factor in the decline of civil jury trials that was relatively easy to change. Here is an example of what we have been doing recently to change that.

ABA/NITA Legal Services Training
Butler Snow
Memphis 2023

“This training session is invaluable and the best such program I have ever attended, bar none.” 2023 Participant

Above is just one of the comments received regarding the 2023 ABA Litigation Section/NITA trial advocacy training for legal services attorneys that was held at the law firm of Butler Snow in Memphis on August 17 and 18. Attorneys from Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri and New Jersey attended the training. Program Director Hon. Mark Drummond (ret.) thanks everyone at Butler Snow for their hospitality and for making their offices available.

Past ABA Litigation Section Chair Danny Van Horn enlisted his partners at Butler Snow to assist in the training in addition to Butler Snow Pro Bono Counsel, Linda Seely, who was instrumental in organizing the training. Thanks to Christine McHugh, Public Service Programs Coordinator, for The National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA).

Judge Drummond thanks Hon. Bernice Donald (ret.), Hon. Andre Mathis, Janika White, Peter Gee, John Hutchins and Butler Snow partners Danny Van Horn, Amy Pepke, Will Perry, Keenan Carter and Brent Siler for sharing their knowledge and expertise with the attendees.

Last July Amazon eliminated binding arbitration and now this. Perhaps the pendulum is slowly swinging back to have these important issues decided by a jury of 12. Let's hope.

Congress Approves Bill to Nullify Forced Arbitration in S*x Abuse Cases Senate passage was the latest evidence that Democrats, fresh off a string of legislative failures on their broader domestic agenda, are focusing on narrower measures with bipartisan support.

"The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic is not the first time courts have shut down. In the early part of last century, the “Spanish flu” wreaked havoc on this country and the third branch of government. As noted in the 2019 edition of the Pandemic Influenza Bench Guide:
While pandemics vary in severity, the pandemic of 1918, sometimes termed the “Spanish flu,” is generally regarded as the most deadly disease event in human history, killing over 40 million people in less than a year. This 1918 pandemic also had another notable characteristic: while most deaths from influenza occur in the very young or very old, the deaths from this pandemic were primarily in those aged 15–35, with 99% of deaths in those under 65."

Read more:

Remote Jury Selection During a Pandemic – The Civil Jury Project at NYU School of Law

Two readers of our newsletter took issue with Research Fellow Michael Pressman's last article with "A Response to Michael Pressman’s 'The Challenge of Achieving a Representative Cross-Section of the Community for Jury Trials during the Pandemic':

A Response to Michael Pressman’s “The Challenge of Achieving a Representative Cross-Section of the Community for Jury Trials during the Pandemic” – The Civil Jury Project at NYU School of Law We take issue with Research Fellow Michael Pressman’s analysis in the Civil Jury Project’s July newsletter that a challenge to under-representation based on race or s*x stemming from the impact of post-COVID jury policies would fail because “courts have no control over the virus” and thus, s...

We're deeply saddened to share the news that guest and leading Texas trial lawyer Stephen Susman passed away on July 14. Our hearts go out to his family and all of his colleagues at Susman Godfrey LLP.

Michael Pressman, one of our research felllows, writes on "The Challenge of Achieving a Representative Cross-Section of the Community for Jury Trials during the Pandemic." Check it out here:

The Challenge of Achieving a Representative Cross-Section of the Community for Jury Trials during the Pandemic – The Civil Jury Project at NYU School of Law The challenges presented by the current pandemic have seemingly affected all areas of society, and jury trials are no exception. As courts seek to resume jury trials, they confront a number of obstacles, one of which will be the focus of this article: how to avoid running afoul of the Sixth Amendmen...

Professor Gensler, the Hon. Lee Rosenthal, & the Hon. Patrick E. Higginbotham write on bringing back 12-person civil juries: Over the last 40-plus years, the 12-person civil jury has gone from being a fixture in the federal courts to a relative rarity. We should all be concerned. That the Supreme Court has allowed us to use smaller juries does not require us to use them. We can use 12-person juries. The benefits are large; the disadvantages marginal." Read more:

Better By the Dozen: Bringing Back the Twelve-Person Civil Jury – The Civil Jury Project at NYU School of Law Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in our newsletter and included relevant charts, tables, and other multimedia. Readers who wish to examine the data referenced in this article can find it at this link.

"Even in-person jury selection is a complex process with many moving parts. Moving to a remote platform would amplify those complexities. The following could potentially mitigate those new difficulties, helping jury selection succeed in a remote platform."

Read more: https://civiljuryproject.law.nyu.edu/suggestions-for-remote-zoom-jury-selection/

Michael Shammas, one of our research fellows, writes about how judges may need to alter their usual practices as online hearings and trials begin replacing physical ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Given the brain’s tendency to wander, what about their usual style should judges alter when conducting trials and hearings over platforms like Zoom? How can judges account for the differences between online and physical interaction?"

Thoughts on Optimizing Time & Attention in Virtual Trials – The Civil Jury Project at NYU School of Law By some estimates, a COVID-19 vaccine may be delayed until mid-2021. I’ve previously examined the logistical difficulties affecting virtual trials and hearings. Two as-yet unexamined aspects involve technology’s impact on (1) judicial time management and (2) juror and attorney attention. These q...

Our July newsletter continues to explore COVID-19's impact on the American jury, with articles by our research fellows (Michael Pressman & Michael Shammas); by Professor Gensler of OU Law School; and more. Read it here:

July Newsletter of the Civil Jury Project

Research fellow Michael Shammas recently tried conducting a comparative analysis of the number of jury trials by state.

"I’ve previously brainstormed the causes of the decline in civil jury trials. I recently decided to see whether I could quantify this decline. Specifically, are some states exempt from the downward trend in civil jury trials? For reasons scholars like Professor Herbert M. Kritzer have pointed out, I eventually found that—despite comprehensive federal data—accurately measuring the decline in civil jury trials by state is fraught, maybe impossible. This is due to differences in methodology by state, especially regarding fundamental questions like the proper definition of the word 'trial.'

"[Excepting] outliers like Virginia, the majority of state data mirrors federal data in showing a steady decline in ... civil trials."

Read more: https://civiljuryproject.law.nyu.edu/the-trial-of-counting-trials/