I had jury duty this week, for the first time ever! I had no idea what to expect, so I turned to Google for answers and was pleased to find several bloggers talking about their experiences with jury duty. So I thought I would write up my experience, in the hopes that someone like me, frantically googling at all hours of the night to figure out what to expect the next day, might find it helpful!
To start with, definitely make sure to tell your boss that you have jury duty ahead of time, remind them the week of, and then let them know as soon as you found out if/when you have to report to court. Hopefully your boss will be as chill as mine were. Their reactions were literally, “Yay! Have fun!” like I was going to Disneyland or something.
On the day of, I gave myself an hour to get from Hollywood to Downtown, and I think it ended up being just about the perfect amount of time. It didn’t take long to get downtown, but finding the parking garage proved somewhat difficult. You park at Walt Disney Concert Hall parking garage (it's the big shiny silver crazy looking building). I went in at 2nd and Hope. Show your juror badge that you should have received in the mail to the parking attendant and they'll let you in for free.
Once you've parked, take the escalators up (and for the love of God, remember where you parked. Remember which side you’re on. Consider taking a picture to refer back to when you’re tired at the end of the day and can’t remember) and up and up to the lobby level and exit the building. The Courthouse is catty-corner to the Concert Hall, so cross the street and then cross the street again. There’s a metal detector set-up just like at the airport (no x-ray scanner though!). There’s virtually no signage to let jurors know where to go. Basically just walk a little ways until you come to the elevators/escalators on your left. Take them down 2 flights (you entered on the 4th floor) and then hang a left. You’ll see a kiosk (selling snacks and free coffee!) and then a room with a bunch of blue chairs. That’s where you go. Make sure to go to the window and turn in your form and get your badge.
And then, you wait. The chairs are actually pretty comfortable. There are bathrooms right there in the room, at the back. There are outlets in the front and to the side, if you need to charge your phone or something. There are also computers, and there’s free wi-fi, but apparently you can’t access Facebook or some email providers?? I don’t know for sure, I didn’t try it out. And the kiosk just outside of the room has all kinds of snacks, and free coffee (thank god!). Every once in a while (only twice in my case), they will announce they need jurors, and will start calling out names, and then they’ll let you know where to go.
At noon, they dismiss you for lunch, until 1:30. There are lots of options downtown, I’m sure, but I chose to go to the cafe at the courthouse, Panorama Cafe, named for it’s panoramic views of downtown. They have Mexican food, grilled food, prepackaged sandwiches and salads. There are really friendly people in blue shirts that will direct you to where each of these stations are. The cafe was pretty crowded, but I managed to find an empty table outside, and enjoyed my quesadilla while gazing out at the cityscape.
In the end, I never got called to be on a jury, which was actually a little disappointing. I was really curious to see what goes on in the process, and to see the inside of a courtroom and stuff. Maybe next year!
Other tips: bring a book, Kindle or other tablet, or something else to keep your interest while you sit for upwards of 8 hours. Bring a snack! I brought an apple, which was a poor choice. It’s so quiet in that room, and biting into that apple was SO loud. Bring a scarf or jacket, in case it’s cold, and also so that you can leave it at your seat and mark your territory when you go to the bathroom or get a snack (if you're a territorial person like I am and reluctant/nervous that you might lose your perfect seat). Do the orientation online ahead of time so you can skip the in-person one at 7:30am, and instead stroll in at 9am. Bring your phone charger in case your battery runs low, since there are outlets in the room.
So that was probably more detailed than anyone needs, but I always like to have as much information as possible when encountering a new and unfamiliar situation. I hope this helps anyone who comes across it!
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