Medical Malpractice Review

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Why then did a female trial lawyer in Mineola, Long Island agree to accept a trial judge onto her jury panel in a medical malpractice case?

According to the New York Law Journal, this female lawyer was quoted as saying "I selected this judge because I figured he'd be able to explain the defense's shenanigans to the other jurors."

The defense attorney however was quoted as saying, "I have a different point of view. I like intelligent and smart jurors. That's why I chose this particular judge."

Interestingly, the day after this article appeared in the New York Law Journal, I was participating in a continuing legal education program, judging a national law student mock trial competition. The judge assigned to our courtroom was the one who sat on the recent malpractice case that resulted in...(can you guess?), a defense verdict.

I learned that this judge was a conservative republican judge assigned to a criminal trial part. My only thought was, "What was the plaintiff's attorney thinking?"

Now- that doesn't mean that even if this person was not on that jury, and someone else was, that the outcome of that malpractice case would be different. But the purpose of selecting a jury is to try and select the best possible jury for your client's case. In my opinion, putting a republican judge on a jury in a malpractice case against a doctor and a hospital, in a conservative county is not a good choice.

In New York, lawyers, doctors, judges and other professionals must serve jury duty.

That doesn't mean, of course, that they must serve as a juror on your case. Find out more information about your prospective juror. Ask yourself, "Is this really the person I want judging my client's case?"