___________________________________________________________ S U M M A R Y J U R Y T R I A L an alternative dispute resolution ___________________________________________________________ Presented by: HONORABLE SHARON S. TOWNSEND HONORABLE JOSEPH GERACE HONORABLE DONNA M. SIWEK BRIAN P. FITZGERALD, ESQUIRE KATHLEEN D. KRAUZA, ESQUIRE DALTON J. BURGETT, ESQUIRE MARTIN VIOLANTE, ESQUIRE 1 In the Eighth Judicial District of New York State, a five-year pilot project has slashed congested court 2 calendars and dramatically reduced litigation costs. This form of alternative dispute resolution has been so 3 successful, it is spreading to other New York State Courts. 4 5 HONORABLE SHARON S. TOWNSEND: Across the 6 country summary jury trials have been used 7 successfully in many areas. Florida, Texas and 8 Virginia have used this money-saving alternative 9 dispute resolution tool very successfully for many 10 years, and have incorporated it into their civil 11 practice. It has also been used in the federal 12 Court's for over 20 years, even in high profile, 13 high exposure personal injury cases. 14 Here in the Eighth Judicial District the use 15 of summary jury trials has been pioneered by the 16 Honorable Joseph Gerace in Chautauqua County. 17 Based upon the impressive results in Chautauqua 18 County, the use of summary jury trials is now 19 being expanded in Erie and Niagara counties. 20 By successfully resolving cases in a minimal 21 number of days, the cases are able to be tried by 22 a jury of ordinary citizens, thus allowing them to 23 perform their civic duty and allowing the parties 24 to have their cases resolved by a jury of their 25 peers. It relieves calendar congestion, and at 1 the same time allows the parties to have a prompt 2 and efficient resolution of their disputes. 3 We are hoping that today by explaining the 4 benefits of the summary jury trial to you, that 5 the use will be expanded in your court, and you 6 will find the results to be as satisfying as we 7 have here in the Eighth Judicial District. 8 HONORABLE JOSEPH GERACE: Summary jury trial 9 in Chautauqua County has definitely helped manage 10 the case load. The summary jury trial process is 11 a mechanism that will help cases get settled 12 sooner, or get tried sooner, or get resolved 13 sooner. We scheduled 174 cases for summary jury 14 trials. All but six were resolved without the 15 parties having to go to a regular trial, and that 16 was in the early years. In the years 2002, 2003 17 and 2004 none, I say none, of the non-binding 18 cases that we scheduled for summary jury trials 19 went to a regular trial. All of those cases were 20 settled. Used to have 13 percent of the cases 21 beyond Standards and Goals. Within a matter of 22 two years that dropped down to about five percent, 23 then down to three percent. 24 HONORABLE DONNA M. SIWEK: The summary jury 25 trial is basically a jury trial that begins and 1 ends in one day. It has all the components of a 2 regular trial. We began the morning by picking 3 the jury. The judge takes a very active roll in 4 jury selection. The judge sets very strict time 5 limits on voir dire. Each side has two peremptory 6 challenges, and that's all. So, the jury 7 selection process itself moves rather quickly. 8 Typically, you have a jury within an hour, an hour 9 and a half after beginning. 10 We follow a very basic process. Each side 11 gets to make a ten-minute opening statement. 12 That's followed by plaintiff beginning with their 13 part of the case. Each side has one hour to 14 present their case. If the attorney chooses, they 15 can put on live witnesses, and they're typically 16 limited to two witnesses. The witness, of course, 17 is subject to cross examination. Because of the 18 time constraints that are imposed upon counsel, 19 the questioning tends to be very focused and 20 detailed, and we get right to the very core issues 21 involved in the case. 22 After each side has done their one-hour 23 presentation, they can present notebooks to the 24 jury where the attorney can actually take the jury 25 through the exhibits. The notebooks are exchanged 1 by counsel ahead of time so there are no surprises 2 to either side. Medical proof can be submitted 3 through medical reports, doctor affidavit, or 4 perhaps even a video, if necessary. 5 When a case is done, each side has an 6 opportunity to make a ten-minute summation. The 7 judge gives a very streamlined charge to the jury. 8 What I like to do after the charge is given is 9 actually provide a hard copy of the charge to the 10 jury so that they can take it into the 11 deliberation room and they have it available to 12 them to refer to, if necessary. Given the fact 13 that it's a very expedited kind of process, they 14 seem to be comforted by the fact that they have 15 this charge with them in the deliberation room, 16 and they have it for their perusal. 17 When the jury begins to deliberate, they have 18 all the tools that they would have had if they had 19 sat through a week long or two week long trial. 20 So, the jury is in as good a position as they 21 would have been had they sat through that long 22 trial, but it all takes place in one day, and 23 that's really the beautiful thing about it. 24 Everyone feels as though they've had their 25 day in court. The parties through their attorneys 1 have an opportunity to fully litigate all of the 2 key issues in the case, and at the end of the day 3 they get a decision and the case is resolved. 4 A summary jury trial can either be binding or 5 non-binding. In a binding situation it is 6 established up front that the parties agree 7 through their counsel to try the case in 8 accordance with the summary jury trial handbook 9 and process, or whatever rules the judge and the 10 attorneys have come to agree upon. And they sign 11 a stipulation agreeing to that ahead of time. We 12 often have high/low with respect to damages. 13 That's often included in the stipulation. 14 Everybody knows going in what their exposure is, 15 what the parameters of the damages are. 16 The rights of appeal are limited in a summary 17 jury trial. They're limited to the rights of 18 appeal that you would have in an arbitration. 19 Once the decision comes in, that's pretty much it. 20 It's a binding situation. In the non-binding 21 scenario, the opinion that the jury gives is 22 merely advisory. But, a very important advisory 23 opinion, because it gives a heads up to everyone 24 as to what might be coming down the pike if we try 25 this case. 1 BRIAN P. FITZGERALD, ESQUIRE: By going 2 through that process, parties have an opportunity 3 to gauge the strengths of their case, the 4 weaknesses of their case, and then to get that 5 read of a jury, which even experienced trial 6 lawyers never know how a jury is going to decide a 7 case. So, to get a read from a jury as to how 8 they would decide a case is a great thing. 9 HONORABLE JOSEPH GERACE: The verdict sends a 10 message to both sides as to what a real jury in 11 trying a case before a real judge in a real 12 courtroom would likely do in the regular trial. 13 Verdicts in the regular trials literally mirror 14 the verdicts in the summary trial. And that's not 15 only been my experience, that's been the 16 experience of judges throughout the entire country 17 who have tried summary jury trials in both small 18 ticket cases and big ticket cases. 19 HONORABLE DONNA M. SIWEK: A non-binding 20 advisory opinion from a summary jury, a trial, 21 helps us ultimately settle the case, because we 22 can use that advisory opinion and talk about that 23 with the lawyers, and often times we can bring the 24 case ultimately to a conclusion. 25 KATHLEEN D. KRAUZA, ESQUIRE: The primary 1 benefit that summary jury trials would make to the 2 New York State Court System would be the 3 tremendous savings in time and money, of the 4 litigants' time and money, their attorneys, the 5 jurors and the court system itself. 6 DALTON J. BURGETT, ESQUIRE: Well, I think 7 one of the best advantages, of course, is the 8 brevity. I mean, the case is put on and tried 9 within a day, hopefully. From the cost savings 10 standpoint that's terrific. The costs of bringing 11 in doctors today and expert witnesses if it's a 12 complex case is overwhelming. 13 BRIAN P. FITZGERALD, ESQUIRE: If you were to 14 represent the plaintiff, let's say, in a personal 15 injury case, obviously there's substantial savings 16 to your client because you don't have to 17 necessarily call expert witnesses, typically 18 doctors, to testify as to injuries. So, you save 19 those costs, while at the same time going through 20 a trial process and getting a decision. 21 KATHLEEN D. KRAUZA, ESQUIRE: One of the 22 things we've found of interest in Chautauqua 23 County was that over 50 percent of the cases that 24 we set down for a summary jury trial settled 25 before the summary jury trial date. When the case 1 settles on the eve of a regular trial, it can 2 leave a courtroom idle and a judge with a minimum 3 calendar for a week or more. When the case 4 settles on the eve of the summary jury trial, the 5 down time is only one day. 6 DALTON J. BURGETT, ESQUIRE: All of us don't 7 want to see a tremendous backlog where our cases 8 are waiting for years, sometimes, in certain 9 jurisdictions. We all have to work together to 10 try and make this summary jury trial work. And if 11 we can, if we are successful at it, I think the 12 whole court process will be streamlined, and I 13 think that's to everyone's advantage. 14 MARTIN VIOLANTE, ESQUIRE: Our primary focus 15 is arbitration. Our secondary focus is mediation. 16 I always try to resort to the summary jury trial 17 in an effort to say listen, folks, if you can't 18 get either of the other two vehicles to work, this 19 is a jury-driven vehicle that will provide a jury- 20 determined coerced response that you may be able 21 to sell to your principal. 22 KATHLEEN D. KRAUZA, ESQUIRE: The summary 23 jury trial is the only form of alternative dispute 24 resolution that utilizes jurors. It strikes at 25 the core of our judicial system. 1 DALTON J. BURGETT, ESQUIRE: If you explain 2 it to the client, they know that this case is 3 going to be resolved, it's going to be over for 4 them, and they're going to get an answer to the 5 question what am I going to get in this case? 6 What is the verdict going to be? It really works 7 well. 8 MARTIN VIOLANTE, ESQUIRE: I would like to 9 see counsel open their eyes to it as a viable 10 alternative. It has proven to be trustworthy and 11 very effective, and especially cost effective in 12 the experience of Chautauqua County, in the 13 experience to date that we've had in Niagara and 14 Erie counties. 15 HONORABLE JOSEPH GERACE: Any judges that are 16 interested in meeting standards and goals, any 17 lawyer, any client who would like their cases 18 tried early, ought to look at the summary jury 19 trial. Justice delayed sometimes is considered 20 justice denied. A summary jury trial can cut 21 through the backlog of cases and resolve them much 22 earlier. 23 24 - quickly resolve cases - - avoid high costs - 25 - give clients their "day in court" -