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Jim Figliulo co-chairs Seventh Circuit Bar Association's jury project commission.

In his capacity as the President of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association, Jim established that Bar Association’s American Jury Project Commission. The Commission seeks to study the recommendations of the American Bar Association’s American Jury Project.

Jim co-chairs 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 has taken a leading role in implementing and testing the ABA principles.

The Commission has selected seven specific innovations for testing over the next six months. Derived from the ABA principles, these concepts are: (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.

During the testing, the Commission will seek to have the federal courts in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin use the concepts in all civil jury trials conducted over the six-month period. The testing process will serve to shed more light on the value and feasibility of the proposed procedures.

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 plans to present the results of the testing at the Seventh Circuit Judicial Conference and Annual Meeting in May 2006.

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