Jim Figliulo appointed to ABA Jury Commission.

Chief Justice Thomas Fitzgerald appointed Jim Figliulo to be the Illinois Liaison to the America Jury Project Commission of the ABA. On behalf of the Jury Commission, Jim and others hosted a national workshop for liaisons from around the country to study and plan the implementation of jury principles. The workshop was held in Chicago on November 13, 2009.

In his capacity as the President of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association, Jim established that 7th Circuit Bar Association’s American Jury Project Commission. The Commission tested and implemented several of the recommendations of the American Bar Association’s American Jury Project. Jim co-chaired the Commission with the Honorable James F. Holderman, Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and Diane S. Sykes, Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

In February 2005, the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates approved modern jury principles to serve as a model for courts around the country. With the goal of putting these ideas into action, the Seventh Circuit Bar Association took a leading role in implementing and testing the ABA principles. The Commission selected seven specific innovations for testing. Derived from the ABA principles these concepts were: (i) twelve person juries; (ii) jury selection questionnaires; (iii) preliminary substantive jury instructions; (iv) trial time limits; (v) questions by the jury during trial; (vi) interim statements to the jury by counsel; and (vii) enhancing jury deliberations.

The Commission’s work has been recognized throughout the nation as a model for the study and implementation of the ABA’s jury principles. The Commission presented the results of its work in a Final Report filed in the Fall of 2008.

To view the Final Report, click here.