PLEASE HELP: MOCK TRIAL JURORS NEEDED IN LACKAWANNA COUNTY FOR TUESDAY NIGHT

Last week, approximately only 25 out of the 700 lawyers who practice in Lackawanna County Pennsylvania volunteered to come out and serve as jurors and judges for the local High School Mock Trial Competition.

This meant that there was only a smattering of about 4 jurors in the large jury boxes in each of the 6 or so mock trials that took place.

The students in this competition work hours on end to craft their case, prepare their witnesses, and attempt to prepare the best presentation possible.  They are excited to present their case to a full jury box and are disappointed when there are only a few jurors present.

Here's to hoping that we can fill the jury boxes this week with more attorneys willing to volunteer to spend about 2 hours serving as a juror this Tuesday, February 4th.

Please contact Lee Ann Munley (lmunley@lackawannabar.org) at the Bar Association to sign-up.

You won't regret it. You will feel good by doing good, you will learn by getting to view a trial from the unique perspective from the jury box just like real life jurors do, and you will be reminded as to proper etiquette for attorneys in the courtroom ("May I approach the witness, your Honor?" etc.).

In the meantime, I am continue to press forward on an effort to try to get the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to revise the Rules pertaining to CLE (for attorneys) and CJE (for judges) credits for participation as jurors or judges in the Mock Trial Competition.  Many other states allow for credits for such activity and the hope is that, someday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will agree to allow for this Rule change which will greatly benefit high school students all across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by ensuring better turnouts by attorneys serving as jurors and judges in mock trial competitions.