Anatomy of a Jury Trial: Part 1

We recently completed a two-week jury trial in a relatively unique premises liability case.  Jury Selection is the first stage in the trial.  This particular jury selection was complicated for a few reasons having nothing to do with the case.  A snowstorm struck on January 15, 2026.  The snow in the Southtowns (parts known to be south of the city and generally snow-belt territory) seemed to keep those lucky prospective juror's home.  The jurors summoned from the city and those to the north and east of Buffalo managed to make it for their 9AM service.

As with most jury pools, the Commissioner seems to attract a very homogenous group.  There were no minorities in this pool.  Those who made it into the room were very polite and patient.  Though when the supervising Judge asked if any had a reason they could not serve, just about 1/2 of the room literally got up and waited in line to tell the judge why they couldn’t stay.  The accommodating Judge respectfully let most of them go.  An excuse relating to upcoming travel, a sick spouse or parent, the need to be at home with children, or financial duress from missing work allowed many to reach the exits.  Those who stayed learned a bit about the process of jury selection.  We needed to sit eight willing people for the trial.  We first expressed our gratitude for showing up.  We then talked about the object of jury selection: to seat a fair and even-handed group of people willing to set aside biases or sympathy for the sake of justice.  I explained that we all have biases: that’s human.  The question is whether the particular issues that would arise in this case would be affected by personal opinion.  I offered the example of Bills Mafia being the referee of a Bills/Broncos football game.  More likely than not, Mafia would lean Bills; that would not be fair to Bronco.  No leaners.

So, we talked about home ownership, being a guest at someone’s home, following safety rules, and the willingness to reconcile conflicting recollections. We talked about each of their backgrounds. One worked at Records Theater for 35 years; one was married with 4 children and worked at a laundromat part-time; one was a retired micro-biologist working at Home Depot to stay busy; one was a retired math teacher who loved to kayak; and another was a railroad engineer and repairman.  People from a variety of backgrounds.  We got through jury selection by excusing those who admitted to biases that would interfere with starting both sides on the same starting line: that is one not ahead of the other.  It took more than a day to get our jury.  Seven women and one gentlemen.  Grateful to the group for being present and following through on their civic duty.