It's Halloween and I'm sitting in the jury room waiting to hear my fate.
Seems like they're picking on me, because I get jury duty notices almost every year.
I've been on so many juries I lost count.
Not a bad gig, but who can live on $9 a day?
My first jury duty experience was when I first moved to San Francisco.
I was excited to get picked because it meant I got paid and I didn't have to go to work.
The case was a business dissolution case.
Two seventy-something men were splitting up their business.
Imagine your grandfather was in business with another grandfather.
For some reason, I still remember their last names.
Mr. Johnson was an expert in antiques.
Mr. Fox invested a lot of money in the business but had zero expertise in antiques.
They were business partners for over ten years.
Mr. Johnson wanted a 50/50 split.
Mr. Fox wanted 100% of the business assets.
At first, it seemed like a cut-and-dry case taking a day or two.
One of the attorneys had a different plan.
He dragged the case out for weeks.
He went through every business transaction one by one.
"Did you write this check for $145.95 to XXX?"
"Yes, I did."
This went on for two weeks.
I wanted some time off from work, but as we entered week three of the trial, I couldn't wait to get back to work.
This attorney was charging by the hour and running up his bill.
Now for the Perry Mason moment...
It's day 22 of this trial that should have ended after a day or two.
They bring up a 20-year-old good-looking man.
"What is your relationship to Mr. Fox?" the attorney asked. "He's my lover."
The judge's jaw hit the floor.
A loud sigh came from the jury box as our jaws hit the floor.
We deliberated for less than an hour and decided on a 50/50 split of the business.
Tell me about your jury duty adventures in the COMMENTS below.
Ted
P.S. Did you grab your copy of my new Epic Encore Roadmap? No opt-in required.
