Jury Service

[davewilliams]

Had to attend service the other month, was only needed in for 4 days.

During my time there I did get on one case, of which a young lady(one of the juries) turned up 5 minutes late...the judge politely asked why she was late, her reply "I was in a queue to buy a dress" turned out not to be acceptable and was fined the cost of the dress!

The lesson is, when asked how much your purchase cost go for a lower price!!

[billybiro]

Surely a bout of politically incorrect tourettes upon arriving would solve most problems?

I would list options here but if i get banned I'd have no idea what to do other than client work during the day....

You could always try this approach to get yourself excused!

[Intel]

Surely a bout of politically incorrect tourettes upon arriving would solve most problems?

I would list options here but if i get banned I'd have no idea what to do other than client work during the day....

[PetroDollarWarrior]

Thanks pr1 - very informative answer, just what I was looking for.

[Gumbo Robot]

firstly, this does sound like a party political broadcast from IPSE.

Secondly, yes I did two weeks a few years back.

I had two cases during my time. 1 for 2 days and the other one lasted 1 day.

There was a murder case, where they look for volunteers to sit as they state it may last for 6-8 weeks, they don't force you to sit on long cases.

And if you were selected, the judge will also ask if you can sit for extended dates as he also doesn't want people there who cant spare the time.

if you are not on a case, you call up a number at 4pm to see if you are needed the following day, sometimes your juror number is not needed. I also took laptop and worked from the juror café a lot fo the time (no wifi, used a GSM dongle)

hope this helps

Hi Tykey

[expat]

i had jury service in march

day 1 turned up (0900) sat waiting for name to be called out, name wasn't called out, sent home (1600) - TAKE A BOOK OR IPAD!
day 2 turned up (1000) sat waiting for name to be called out, name WAS called out AT 1500, 30 of us taken to court room, judge gave us a brief outline of the case and said it may last up to 6 weeks, gave us a form and told us to come back in an hour with filled out forms - form basically asked "do you know or have you had any contact with X, Y, Z person or A, B, C companies" and "is there any reason why you would prefer not to be on a case which lasts up to 6 weeks" - I gave them a standard "one man band sole breadwinner can't afford it spiel" - of the 30 of us called in, 18 said "we can stay as long as you want mate", 12 came up with similar stories to me, us 12 got sent home. Rang up at 1800 that evening and found out I wasn't needed th next day

day 3-5, not needed in court, carried on at client/billing/invoicing as normal (note, you don't get IPSE cover unless you are required in court)

day 6 got a case expected to last 2-3 days
day 7 case completed, rang up that evening and was no longer required (so back to client)
day 8,9,10 not needed, jury service complete

Filled out a form at the court for "loss of earnings" for the four working days I attended court, which was in my (personal) account within 7 days (only about £60/day)

Took that receipt and filled out the ipse claim form, they rounded what the court paid me up to 4*(dayrate) - (im on less than 500/d) - got a cheque paid to MyCo within 21 days

All in all, 4 days in court, 6 days normal billing, no loss of income

If you are called up for a big (potentially long) case they over fill it with jurors (30 for the 15 required in my case, but other big cases took 60 in) and in a random sample of british electoral registrants there's always going to be 15 people that don't want to go back to work more than you

before anyone says there's 12 on a jury not 15, they always choose 15 in case the defence/prosecution recognise any juror (or vice versa) then 12 names are picked from a hat (literally) out of who's left

Very useful post, thanks.

Even if there are 15 on some juries.

[pr1]

i had jury service in march

day 1 turned up (0900) sat waiting for name to be called out, name wasn't called out, sent home (1600) - TAKE A BOOK OR IPAD!
day 2 turned up (1000) sat waiting for name to be called out, name WAS called out AT 1500, 30 of us taken to court room, judge gave us a brief outline of the case and said it may last up to 6 weeks, gave us a form and told us to come back in an hour with filled out forms - form basically asked "do you know or have you had any contact with X, Y, Z person or A, B, C companies" and "is there any reason why you would prefer not to be on a case which lasts up to 6 weeks" - I gave them a standard "one man band sole breadwinner can't afford it spiel" - of the 30 of us called in, 18 said "we can stay as long as you want mate", 12 came up with similar stories to me, us 12 got sent home. Rang up at 1800 that evening and found out I wasn't needed th next day

day 3-5, not needed in court, carried on at client/billing/invoicing as normal (note, you don't get IPSE cover unless you are required in court)

day 6 got a case expected to last 2-3 days
day 7 case completed, rang up that evening and was no longer required (so back to client)
day 8,9,10 not needed, jury service complete

Filled out a form at the court for "loss of earnings" for the four working days I attended court, which was in my (personal) account within 7 days (only about £60/day)

Took that receipt and filled out the ipse claim form, they rounded what the court paid me up to 4*(dayrate) - (im on less than 500/d) - got a cheque paid to MyCo within 21 days

All in all, 4 days in court, 6 days normal billing, no loss of income

If you are called up for a big (potentially long) case they over fill it with jurors (30 for the 15 required in my case, but other big cases took 60 in) and in a random sample of british electoral registrants there's always going to be 15 people that don't want to go back to work more than you

before anyone says there's 12 on a jury not 15, they always choose 15 in case the defence/prosecution recognise any juror (or vice versa) then 12 names are picked from a hat (literally) out of who's left

[Support Monkey]

This is of no help whatsoever to you but I was call for Jury service when I was 19, I never bothered turning up, I was to busy working and partying to be bother with it, never heard anything about it ever again, no fines, no arrest, and no letters saying where were you, obviously they may be a bit tighter on it now that was 20 odd years ago

[Chuck]

I did it a couple of years ago. No questions from IPSE, or PCG as it as then, they just paid out upon receipt of the jury service summons and signed court appearance paperwork (can't remember what it's called). It's paid for my Plus membership many times over.

You won't be forced to do a long case if you can't manage it.

I was on a kiddy fiddling case that took eight days. Could have been over in thirty minutes if they'd gone straight to the DNA evidence, but I suppose the legal eagles need to justify their salaries. It was horrible but fascinating. I loved it.

It really brought home to me how lucky I am. There is a filthy and disgusting underside to society that I thankfully have never experienced.

[northernladuk]

firstly, this does sound like a party political broadcast from IPSE.

Secondly, yes I did two weeks a few years back.

I had two cases during my time. 1 for 2 days and the other one lasted 1 day.

There was a murder case, where they look for volunteers to sit as they state it may last for 6-8 weeks, they don't force you to sit on long cases.

And if you were selected, the judge will also ask if you can sit for extended dates as he also doesn't want people there who cant spare the time.

if you are not on a case, you call up a number at 4pm to see if you are needed the following day, sometimes your juror number is not needed. I also took laptop and worked from the juror café a lot fo the time (no wifi, used a GSM dongle)

hope this helps

Has someone hacked Merclad? This is pretty useful.

[MercladUK]

firstly, this does sound like a party political broadcast from IPSE.

Secondly, yes I did two weeks a few years back.

I had two cases during my time. 1 for 2 days and the other one lasted 1 day.

There was a murder case, where they look for volunteers to sit as they state it may last for 6-8 weeks, they don't force you to sit on long cases.

And if you were selected, the judge will also ask if you can sit for extended dates as he also doesn't want people there who cant spare the time.

if you are not on a case, you call up a number at 4pm to see if you are needed the following day, sometimes your juror number is not needed. I also took laptop and worked from the juror café a lot fo the time (no wifi, used a GSM dongle)

hope this helps

[eek]

Sole bread winner.

Fixed term contract with tight deliverables and penalty clauses :

[FatLazyContractor]

Try calling in sick

[vetran]

From a 'Friends experience' Its a fight club scenario.

you will spend half your time in the Jury room. Take a book! You can take a laptop as well but there may not be working lockers, you can't take them into court.

There will be no tea/coffee facilities.

You will be warned if long running cases about and given a chance to give an excuse if needed.

Expect it to be very poorly organised and your blood pressure will rise.

You will be sent home half way through the day repeatedly.

[PetroDollarWarrior]

Hi Folks,
I'm a 'one man band' Ltd company contactor and I've just been called for Jury Service. Thankfully I'm a 'plus' member of IPSE (Formally PCG) and have discovered I have business interruption cover which pays out up £500/day for max 10 days for jury service. While this does not cover my day rate, it does take some of the pain away. A few questions for the forum;
Have any forum members claimed this business interruption cover from IPSE - did they pay out ok?
From research I see the jury service will last a minimum of 2 weeks (10 working days), while not ideal I know the company I'm contracted to will be ok with me taking this much time off but probably not much more and the IPSE cover takes some of the financial pain away - however if the case drags on then I'd start getting into hot water. Has anyone on here managed to get out of jury service ( or limited it to 2 weeks max), using the loss of earnings / potential loss of contract argument? If so what evidence did they need to show the judge - was it an arduous process?
Anyone just not turned up on the day and paid the £1000 fine instead?

Thanks
S