A QUESTION FOR THE LAWYERS HERE ON THE FORUM

[chief38]

After recently serving Jury Duty and seeing just how long the Court Room back log is I would like to ask this question.....

Why is Court in session for only 4 hours per day? When on Jury Duty the Court actually started about 10 am, broke for a 2 HOUR LUNCH, then went from 2 - 4 pm. WHY is it necessary to take TWO HOURS for lunch!!?? Wouldn't 45 minutes or an hour be more than adequate? Why can't Court start at 9 and end at 5 just like most other businesses? Just think how much more we could accomplish and this would in turn cut the back log of Court Cases by about half.

So I would truly like to hear from Lawyers here (retired or active) and find out what I am missing. Is there a specific reason that Court really only runs 4 hours a day?

 

[sigp220.45]

I’m not a lawyer, but I’ve been the case agent for many trials. They all started at 8am and generally went til 5pm, sometimes longer.

 

[H Richard]

I think your local courts have a problem. Our courts start at 9 am, and often go past 5pm if a case is close to being settled.

 

[straightshooter1]

I'm a retired career Prosecutor and never, ever saw what you described. I can't recall when jurors arrive (called twice-just can't remember the time), but they get a welcome from a Judge, the Clerk of Court tells then what is going on, what is gonna happen for the rest of their day, they see a video and then, around 9ish a group goes to one of the Court Rooms for Jury Selection.

Usually that is finished by lunch, but sometimes, in a bigger case, it takes longer. Lunch is usually an hour, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less.

A one day trial-the case goes till the jury reaches a verdict. Doesn't matter how late. Sometimes there are problems with witnesses and there are delays, but not often. Normal murder or similar trial-takes three days, trial starts at 9, break from 12-1 for lunch and wrap up for the day somewhere around 4:30-5:00.

Now there's a sanity murder trial happening here where a father dropped his young child off one of the Skyway Bridges and there have been lots of delays because of motions the defense has filed during the trial.

But that's rare.

Bob

 

[pharmer]

I’m not a lawyer, but I’ve been the case agent for many trials. They all started at 8am and generally went til 5pm, sometimes longer.

Around here, what he said. Joe

 

[brjr51]

Several years ago, I was involved in a case that was heard by a certain judge. Court started at 9:00 AM but he routinely didn't show up till 9:30 or so. I overheard the bailiff telling the court reporter something about he had to take his kids to school so usually ran late. Well since I was paying for my attorney to sit there with me, this didn't sit well with me. Then on the day we were finally wrapping it up, my attorney and opposing council told the judge they could have something worked out shortly and would return after the mornings docket was heard. This judge finished that mornings docket about 10:30 and took recess. My attorney and I sat there till almost noon and he never reappeared, again paying her fees for waiting. The bailiff told us we may as well leave, and again I overheard him say the judge left the courthouse at 10:30 without saying a word and never returned.
I've never forgotten his name and it warmed my heart when he lost re-election a while back.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Went through trials many, many times during my 24 years as a cop. Some judges are better than others at keeping things moving along, controlling the lawyers' tendencies to dramatic performances, etc.

Since I retired (1995) I have been called for jury duty 5 or 6 times. Again, some judges are better than others at moving things along. Being a retired cop it is highly unlikely that I will ever be seated on a jury for a criminal trial. Being a retired business owner it is pretty unlikely that I will ever be seated on a jury for a civil trial. Usually takes anywhere from 3 to 5 hours before they get around to excusing me.

As author and radio commentator Mike Rosen said, the American system of trial by jury is the finest system in the world; the only problem seems to be finding 12 people who don't know anything and can't read.

They tell me that at age 70 I can request to be removed from the jury roster. Something to look forward to!

 

[Rpg]

It varies with jurisdiction and Court.

Generally, there are multiple settings: several cases set at the same time, same courtroom. Some settle, some get continued, some are set for brief hearings.

Usually, jury trials have priority but lots of things are fit in around the trial so a lengthy lunch break for jurors usually isn’t a lengthy lunch break for the Court.

While the jurors are on lunch break, other Court business is taking place.

That business may be related to the jury trial itself or may have to do with other cases. Matters related to the jury trial could range from settlement negotiations to legal arguments by the lawyers to arranging witness logistics: things the jurors will never know about. Although a juror won’t see these things, they all inhance a smooth trial that minimizes juror inconvenience (no one wants to irritate the jurors).

Getting jurors home on time is part of minimizing juror inconvenience. Jurors usually aren’t kept in the court late without advance warning so they can make plans and minimize inconvenience: generally this never happens on the first day of a trial.

 

[chief38]

I only know about the Court hours where I live. At least I am happy to hear that in the rest of the Country a work ethic still prevails.

Now traffic court here is different. They don't close until the check books run out of money!

 

[Muss Muggins]

It is possible that the judge and/or the attorneys involved were taking up other matters before 10 am, during lunch, and after 4 pm, but that possibility would require considering that there are other people on the planet . . .

Edit: RPG said it with more words . . .

I only know about the Court hours where I live. At least I am happy to hear that in the rest of the Country a work ethic still prevails.

Now traffic court here is different. They don't close until the check books run out of money!

 

[oink]

Optimistically, what RPG said. The other side is that it's up to the judge. He/she does what they want within very broad limits. It's also up to the chief judge and how much he/she will tolerate and what example he/she sets. Some judges are pretty sorry. Fortunately most try hard to do their best.

PS: Oh, no I'm not a lawyer but I have spent my share of time in court. Plus I did serve a sentence as a court bailiff after a knee injury. I hated that duty. Plus #2 my son is a PD and I hear his stories.

 

[Wyo]

Having presided at several hundred jury trials, I can tell you that I started them at 9:00 a.m. I was in the office, though, at 7:00 a.m., hearing motions, doing paperwork, etc., on other cases before trial started. We took one hour for lunch at around 12:30 p.m., and I tried to adjourn by 5:00 p.m. Sometimes I ran a little longer depending on circumstances. I did that because it was my experience that jurors begin to lose focus after that. They're worried about picking up kids or what's for dinner or any other number of other things, and I wanted them paying attention to what was going on in the courtroom. Once the jury got the case for deliberation, which was often mid-day or later, I generally kept them in session until about 9:00 p.m. Sometimes they wanted to stay later, and that was fine with me. Again, I was often in the office long after trial ended for the day doing other things on other cases. A day that started for a jury at 9:00 and ended at 5:00 usually went from about 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. for me.

Having said all that, I can't think of any good reason for a jury trial to be in session only 4 hrs. per day. It might be that some rare circumstance comes up that requires a judge's attention for some period of time that might shorten the session for a day or so, but to routinely sit for only 4 hrs. per day cannot be justified, IMHO. If that is actually what happens in your location, then I can only say the judge that is running that court needs to rethink his work habits.

 

[Salty RI]

I had jury duty once and there was one judge who never came back after lunch.

Sent from my LGL52VL using Tapatalk

 

[Golddollar]

It varies with jurisdiction and Court.

Generally, there are multiple settings: several cases set at the same time, same courtroom. Some settle, some get continued, some are set for brief hearings.

Usually, jury trials have priority but lots of things are fit in around the trial so a lengthy lunch break for jurors usually isn’t a lengthy lunch break for the Court.

While the jurors are on lunch break, other Court business is taking place.

That business may be related to the jury trial itself or may have to do with other cases.

Years ago I was assisting a litigation partner on a land title case in a rural county of Maryland. Our office was going against parties who, due to survey errors, built houses over the property line into the land of our client. The case was set for a three day bench trial (no jury). The first day the court was in session on this case for the whole day. The next day as I remember it from all those years ago is that our case presentation was finished, and the other side basically ran up the white flag without putting on a case, and agreed to settle. I do remember being adjourned for lunch, and when we came back, the judge was hearing an adoption case. So the case got solved in 1 1/2 days instead of 3, so there suddenly became a period of time originally set aside for trial that became unscheduled. In a situation like that it's hard to arrange for new litigants to suddenly come to in fill in that gap in time.

 

[chief38]

I really don't know the reason the Courts here operate on a 4 hr/day clock, but IMO it's a huge waste of tax payer dollars. If attorney's have to prepare - that should be done on their time, not public time. To start Court at 10 am when the Jurors are to report at 9 is not right. Why is my time worth less than Atty's. and Judges who are getting paid to be there?

 

[soFlaNative]

2hr. lunch?
My experience with the judicial system is limited but even I've heard the term "back room deal".
If both parties are satisfied and it quickens the process all the better.

 

[Muss Muggins]

You really don’t understand this. Oft times the defense proffers motions the morning of trial that the Court must consider. Your “time” is the time you spend as a citizen, dealing with your duty to serve as a juror. Surely you’re not suggesting that jurors receive compensation based on their perceived worth to the process?

I really don't know the reason the Courts here operate on a 4 hr/day clock, but IMO it's a huge waste of tax payer dollars. If attorney's have to prepare - that should be done on their time, not public time. To start Court at 10 am when the Jurors are to report at 9 is not right. Why is my time worth less than Atty's. and Judges who are getting paid to be there?

 

[rustythread]

Before I retired, I was a trial judge for a number of years, and a plaintiffs'trial attorney for 20 years +. As a general-jurisdiction judge on a circuit comprising 12 counties, There were times when I was the only judge in the courthouse and had to delay or iinterrupt jury trial days to take care of emergency matters. There were more jury trials which required judge and both counsel hitting the law library for some quick research,arguments, and ruling on an unanticipated point of law. There were a lot of civil cases where defense counsel would see that the light was from an oncoming train, and request a recess to frantically call the insurer to get authority to finally offer a reasonable settlement.

Unless there were enough judges available to cover every other case that came up, the judge with the jury trial had to handle much or all of his regular caseload in addition to the jury--early mornings, "long lunch hours", and late afternoons when the iury has gone home.
There are some slackers on the bench, just as there are slackers in every job. There are some large cities where a certain percent of judgeships are political rewards (and it's probably good for the system that those guys tend not to do much--some I've met needed the bailiff to tie their shoes...).
OP, sorry your experience wasn't satisfactory. Stuff happens

 

[amazingflapjack]

Was part of a week long jury trial some years back where the judce was late everyday-took 2-3 hour mid day breaks to "feed his dogs" and took naps during court every day. He was a heavy smoker-so there were breaks for that as well. No one dared to confront him=black robe syndrome. He is gone now-he just did what he wanted.

 

[Doug M.]

I've seen some poor excuses for judges, but they have not been common. As others have said, there is a lot of stuff going on with other proceedings that have to be covered, motions and arguments that jurors should not hear, etc.