My One and Only Jury Trial

Attorney Tom Olsen

I became an attorney in 1981 and I had my one and only jury trial in the first year or two of my practice. I've made up the parties' names to protect their confidentiality and because I honestly don't remember them. My client was a very nice, well behaved young man I'll call "Danny". He was being sued by a very crotchety old man I'll call "Willard". Danny rented a mobile home in a mobile home park where Willard was the park manager.

The facts were simple and undisputed. Danny liked to spend time tending his rose garden which was in his front yard near the street. In the afternoons after work he would water his roses. Willard would regularly come around in his golf cart and tell Danny to stop wasting water on his roses. Finally, one day Danny had had enough and he turned his water hose on Willard and soaked him down.

Willard hired an equally new and inexperienced lawyer, I'll call him "Bill", and they brought a civil suit against Danny for monetary damages. They also asked for a jury trial.

At trial, we presented the above facts to the jury and the jury went out to deliberate. After a while, the jury sent a note to the judge via the bailiff. I remember the judge reading the note to himself and then, smiling, he read it to us. The note was a question from the jury: "Who pays the water bill for the water Danny uses to water his roses, Danny or the mobile home park?". I looked at Bill and Bill looked at me and clearly neither of us knew the answer. In all of our legal discovery, preparation and presentation to the jury, neither of us had thought of this most basic question. In any case, the judge rightfully decided to send a note back to the jury: "The facts have been presented and no further evidence will be allowed for your consideration".

Later, the jury returned with their verdict. The jury awarded Willard $100 for his actual damages (laundering is wet clothes) and $100 as punitive damages. My client was happy and I was happy to have gained the legal experience without doing any harm to my client.

I haven't seen "Bill" for years, but the next time I do I'll ask him if he remembers how his client felt about the verdict. Oh, and I either never found out or I've forgotten who paid the water bill.