ALLERTON HOUSE CONFEREES TO FOCUS ON JURY SYSTEM
ISBA.org
The 2006 Allerton House Conference on “Reforming the Jury System in Illinois” will be conducted from Thursday to Saturday, April 6-8, at the Starved Rock Resort and Conference Center, Utica.
Sponsored by the ISBA Civil Practice and Procedure Section Council, the biennial conference calls together selected lawyers, judges and educators to discuss problems and seek improvements in various elements of the court system.
During the opening dinner at 6 p.m. Thursday, a presentation on the National Jury Project will be given by officials of the Center for Jury Studies of the National Center for State Courts.
The speakers are G. Thomas Munster-man, principal court management consultant, and retired judge Gregory Mize, a visiting scholar.
On Saturday, the 8 a.m. breakfast program will include discussion of the Seventh Circuit Jury Project. Speakers are Judge James Holderman of U.S. District Court for the Northern District and James R. Figliulo, president of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association.
Throughout the day, participants will be divided into three groups for concurrent breakout sessions. The topics are:
• Enhancing Juror Understanding of Facts and Law: Early Jury Instructions, Juror Questions to Witnesses, and Jurors’ Discussions of the Case Prior to Deliberations.
• Juror Selection: Voir Dire Procedures, and The Process for Selection of Jurors.
• Facilitating Jury Service: Streamlining of the Trial Through Case Management Conferences Devoted to Trial Preparation, Juror Compensation, and Limits on the Time for Trial.
A 3:15 p.m. plenary session will precede a reception and dinner.
After breakfast on Saturday, the conference will be addressed at 9 a.m. by Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas L. Kilbride, and will adjourn at 10 a.m.