Jury Research: Pickup v. Bicycle

I just got this post on a lawyer list-serve and thought that it was
precious:

"I’m defending a personal injury case where my client, who was driving
a pickup, hit a bicyclist. Does anyone know if there’s any jury
research out there about bicyclists as jurors? Should I avoid them?
I ask because I defended a trucker last year and was told by my jury
consultant to stay away from truckers because they’d judge my client
and talk in the jury room about all of the things that he should have
done differently. I wonder if the same thing is true for bicyclists
and if they’d actually be bad for the plaintiff.

If you’ve defended a bicyclist case at trial recently, I’d love to
hear any tips."

Hmmm. Hope its not a Dodge. -- Jay Beattie.

On 2/14/2011 8:43 PM, Jay Beattie wrote:
I just got this post on a lawyer list-serve and thought that it was
precious:

"I’m defending a personal injury case where my client, who was driving
a pickup, hit a bicyclist. Does anyone know if there’s any jury
research out there about bicyclists as jurors? Should I avoid them?
I ask because I defended a trucker last year and was told by my jury
consultant to stay away from truckers because they’d judge my client
and talk in the jury room about all of the things that he should have
done differently. I wonder if the same thing is true for bicyclists
and if they’d actually be bad for the plaintiff.

If you’ve defended a bicyclist case at trial recently, I’d love to
hear any tips."

Hmmm. Hope its not a Dodge. -- Jay Beattie.


Instead of avoiding cyclists on his jury, he should tell his client to
avoid cyclists with his truck.

If he want to screen cyclist on a jury here his voir dire is likely to
take a while g I can imagine, "Are you now, or have you ever been a
cyclist?"

Jay Beattie wrote:
I just got this post on a lawyer list-serve and thought that it was
precious:

"I’m defending a personal injury case where my client, who was driving
a pickup, hit a bicyclist. Does anyone know if there’s any jury
research out there about bicyclists as jurors? Should I avoid them?
I ask because I defended a trucker last year and was told by my jury
consultant to stay away from truckers because they’d judge my client
and talk in the jury room about all of the things that he should have
done differently. I wonder if the same thing is true for bicyclists
and if they’d actually be bad for the plaintiff.

If you’ve defended a bicyclist case at trial recently, I’d love to
hear any tips."

Hmmm. Hope its not a Dodge. -- Jay Beattie.

If you're actually looking for answers to this, a great person to ask
would be John Schubert. Here's his web site.

http://limeport.org/

-S-

On Feb 14, 6:43*pm, Jay Beattie wrote:
I just got this post on a lawyer list-serve and thought that it was
precious:

"I’m defending a personal injury case where my client, who was driving
a pickup, hit a bicyclist. *Does anyone know if there’s any jury
research out there about bicyclists as jurors? *Should I avoid them?
I ask because I defended a trucker last year and was told by my jury
consultant to stay away from truckers because they’d judge my client
and talk in the jury room about all of the things that he should have
done differently. *I wonder if the same thing is true for bicyclists
and if they’d actually be bad for the plaintiff.

If you’ve defended a bicyclist case at trial recently, I’d love to
hear any tips."

Hmmm. Hope its not a Dodge. -- Jay Beattie.

What a dumb question...if the trucker took out a cyclist who was
riding along minding his own business then he definitely does not want
a cyclist on the jury. However, if the cyclist was doing something
dumb like a wrong way Wilbur, then having cyclists on the jury would
probably be OK. The lawyer should know this.
Phil H

On Feb 17, 4:29*pm, Phil H wrote:
On Feb 14, 6:43*pm, Jay Beattie wrote:





I just got this post on a lawyer list-serve and thought that it was
precious:

"I’m defending a personal injury case where my client, who was driving
a pickup, hit a bicyclist. *Does anyone know if there’s any jury
research out there about bicyclists as jurors? *Should I avoid them?
I ask because I defended a trucker last year and was told by my jury
consultant to stay away from truckers because they’d judge my client
and talk in the jury room about all of the things that he should have
done differently. *I wonder if the same thing is true for bicyclists
and if they’d actually be bad for the plaintiff.

If you’ve defended a bicyclist case at trial recently, I’d love to
hear any tips."

Hmmm. Hope its not a Dodge. -- Jay Beattie.

What a dumb question...if the trucker took out a cyclist who was
riding along minding his own business then he definitely does not want
a cyclist on the jury. However, if the cyclist was doing something
dumb like a wrong way Wilbur, then having cyclists on the jury would
probably be OK. The lawyer should know this.
Phil H- Hide quoted text -

The absolutely simplest answer is to boot all the bicyclists and Prius
drivers, because hardcore motorists will always be in your corner --
particularly in PDX where it has become so polarized due to the
inexplicable political clout of the local cycling organizations.
There are so many green boxes, pavement signs and markings that it
looks like I am riding on a basketball court. I'm not sure whether I
should be stopping at a light or taking a free throw shot. -- Jay
Beattie.