After accepting the inevitable, I realized jury service would provide first-hand knowledge about this mysterious group we call "jurors."

On our first day, we received a pamphlet called "Ohio Guide for Trial Jurors" and saw a locally produced film on jury service. After about 40 minutes, I was in the first group called to a courtroom. We walked down a hallway where a photograph of each and every judge hung on the wall. The photos are very large and conspicuous. To a juror, the judges appear as icons -- friends, protectors, supervisors, pseudo parents -- since the jurors are under the judge's charge and control.

The first person we met in the courtroom was the bailiff. Jurors see the judge for the first time on the bench in their formal judicial garb. Jurors instinctively respect the judge and continue to do so whether that judge is friendly, a disciplinarian, or a combination of both. The judge always treats the jurors with great respect and deference. As an attorney, you better show respect for the judge because the jurors have already determined the judge should be respected.

Once in the jury room, the jurors mingled uncomfortably. Slowly, after talking to one another and learning more about each other, the ice broke. Ultimately, jurors make a sincere effort to get along.

After a day or two as a juror, each knew the other. By the third day, an entire jury panel could be comprised of previously rejected veteran jurors (we called ourselves "recycled").

An amazing transformation occurred when I first entered the courtroom not as an attorney but as a juror. I calmly walked passed the obviously nervous attorneys watching us. The judges were especially nice to us (and me) since we were not asking for a continuance or arguing evidence (and we were all registered voters!) We were simply there to serve, to aid the judges, as the triers of fact. I was able to just sit back, listen and learn.

The following is a summary of my observations from a juror's perspective:

1) When trying cases, please get directly to the point. Be as friendly and calm as possible, but drop the omnipresent fake smile. Advise your clients likewise.

2) Avoid pained and animated looks on your face when an objection is made or overruled. Rolling your eyes or looking "how could the judge rule that way" is annoying.

3) Before you address the jury, please check your appearance. One attorney had some suit pockets tucked in and some out. One attorney wore a low-cut dress and had a rash on her chest. The ability of the jurors to concentrate on what the attorney is saying is compromised in these situations.

4) Check the courtroom layout and view from the jury box. For example, the Justice Center in Cleveland has slats on the walls. When attorneys move around in front of those slats, they become blurry. Concentrating on the attorney is impossible.

5) In voir dire, avoid asking jurors leading questions designed to do little more than elicit agreement; the old maxim that jurors should be asked how they feel about certain issues is entirely correct. Jurors who cannot be fair usually say so during the course of the questioning, either directly or indirectly. Listen! I heard one juror say that she tried to tell the lawyers and the judge that she could not be fair, but they did not listen. In fact, she did because I heard her say so. However, the criminal defense attorney did not (guilty verdict). If a juror says they doubt they can be fair, they cannot. Do not overkill by trying to determine which jurors to pick or eliminate. If you listen and your gut feeling says that this is a pro-prosecutor, pro-defense or pro-plaintiff juror, you are probably right. Excusing jurors with your preemptory challenge is not a big mystery. Follow your gut and move on.

In one amazing voir dire exchange, a juror said he had a mental problem, was on medication, could not concentrate, and already had a preconceived idea of this particular type of case because of her past life experiences. The judge and the attorneys had a ten minute side bar before the court finally excused this juror for cause. Why? If a juror obviously cannot be fair, the court should remove the juror for cause and move forward. Please save some time.

6) Ask simple, straight forward questions in a calm manner, look the jurors in the eye, and be careful not to condescend or misstate anything. Many of the jurors called the voir dire an "interrogation." Jurors laughed about one plaintiff's attorney's continual animated demonstration of the scales of justice and the blindfold.

7) Have your witnesses prepared. In a criminal case, the police officers knew neither the date of the offense, nor the salient facts. Each had to be completely refreshed. The jurors were insulted, since the witnesses had not even bothered to prepare for their testimony. Jurors will hold the lack of preparation against you.

8) Jurors know they have the power to decide the case; you do not have to remind them. Jurors listen and try to follow the judge's complicated instructions, but in the end, they usually decide based on their gut feelings. Harken back to when you first met your client - remember your gut impression, because the jury will remind you of it in their verdict.

The defense attorney gave a good opening statement; I felt swayed towards his point of view. However, when he told us that the defendant "just didn't do this particular crime," his eyes dropped; he lost eye contact. Jurors notice these types of things.

In a serious triple defendant case, one of the defendants had a suit and a tie on and looked like one of the attorneys, while his co-defendants looked less credible. This defendant did not look worried while his co-defendants looked extremely tense. When a couple of the jurors talked about this after we were excused, several agreed that this defendant did not look worried and appeared to be less culpable than the other defendants. However, one pro-prosecutor juror said this defendant looked calm because he had been "getting away with this his whole life." This shows how hard it is to predict any absolute based on appearance or attitude and how your point of view affects your perception. By the way, I later learned that all the defendants were convicted.

Defense attorneys wisely tell the jury about the burden of proof, that the defendant does not have to testify, and the presumption of innocence. However, avoid doing this 500 times! People learn in threes. Mention these points, ask the jury why they think this is a good law, if they can follow each proposition; and then leave it alone. The jury understands.

I did sit to verdict on a criminal case only because each side had run out of their preemptory challenges by the time I was seated. However, I am told that there are several other attorneys who have been on cases, including a prosecutor who sat on a criminal panel who found the defendant "not guilty." We deliberated ten minutes before we found the defendant not guilty since the victim never testified.

In a civil personal injury case, the McDonald's verdict came up in voir dire. Be advised that most of the jurors (and judges) think the McDonald's case is a travesty. Those plaintiffs' attorneys who try to distinguish it do so at their own peril. If it does come up, simply ask which jurors think the McDonald's case is frivolous and which jurors would need to know more about it before deciding. The jurors that need to know more about it are probably good plaintiffs' jurors.

In a civil personal injury case, you better know your client's injuries. One judge continually drilled a plaintiff's attorney during voir dire as to the nature and extent of his client's complicated tendon injuries since there were jurors with prior similar injuries and two doctors on the jury panel. Please do not come to court expecting your expert to explain your client's injury. You better know it and know it well.

Watch what your clients are doing during voir dire. In a personal injury case, as the judge inquired about the nerve injury to the young plaintiff, she spun around in her chair, touching her hand and jerking it back in pain, blowing on her injury and making a painful face. I know the plaintiff's attorney did not know this was happening. The point is that the jurors are constantly watching you and your clients.

Jurors are smart, have been "around the block," and like us, deal with people every day. They know what is happening. They are not strange, unpredictable beings; they are feeling, decent people trying to do the right thing. Since we attorneys are actually people we are more like them than unlike them. Go inside, live with them for a few days, and you'll recognize your friends, your neighbors, yourself.