Troy-based attorney Daniel Quick, appointed to the county’s jury commission, is getting ready for his second-ever meeting with the board. Quick, who works for the law firm Dickinson Wright, is about to be reappointed to a six-year term by county commissioners.
Fellow jury commissioners are Bloomfield Hills-based attorney Kymberly K. Reeves, whose term expires April 30, 2023; and William J. Axtell, whose term runs through April 30, 2024. Quick’s term would run through April 30, 2028.
Under Michigan law, three people, each recommended by the county’s Circuit Court judges, are appointed by county commissioners.
County commissioners budgeted just under $38,000 for jury-related work. About half that amount, $15,250, is used for office supplies and metered postage. So far this year, the county’s spent just $5,000, because the pandemic led to the suspension of jury trials.
Court officials announced on March 4 that Circuit and Probate courts’ jury trials would resume on April 25.
A seat on the jury commission is a civic-duty job, one that pays a relative pittance: commissioners are paid $90 per meeting. Quick, asked how that compares to his hourly rate as an attorney, Quick laughed and said, “It’s a multiple of that.”
People selected for the jury pool are scheduled to be at the courthouse weekdays, except for Wednesdays. People reporting for jury duty are paid $15 for the first half day and $30 for the first full day, plus .20 per mile for transportation. Jurors who serve additional days are paid $22.50 per half day and $45 per day.
Quick said people can ask to be excused from jury duty, but he encourages people to think of it as an opportunity, not a chore.
“It’s the most-direct way most people get involved in the judicial process,” he said, adding that the Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution protects peoples’ right to a jury trial.
Quick said he’s been called to jury duty once, but not selected to serve on as a trial-case juror.
The county calls dozens of people to serve on juries, with about 40 going to any given courtroom, he said, and a random set of people from that group is asked to sit in the jury box. They answer questions from lawyers on both sides of a case. Should someone in the jury box be rejected for a trial, another person from the waiting crowd is selected to fill that vacancy, untll all jurors pass muster with both lawyers.
“Oakland County does a good job of educating jurors,” Quick said, praising the explanatory video used by the county. “I find more people take jury duty seriously, and are happy to be of service”
People nominated for the jury commission include those from each political party, with neither side having a majority.
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Jury commissioners meet each May to get a report from the county clerk on the previous year’s jury activity. These commissioners then review lists of potential jurors used to create randomly selected candidates.
Quick’s legal experience includes all aspects of the uniform commercial code and automotive industry litigation, as well as shareholder and family business disputes, trade secret and non-compete litigation, domestic and international arbitration, and intellectual property cases.
The University of Michigan alum is the past president of the Oakland County Bar Association, an officer of the State Bar of Michigan, and a member of the governing council of the litigation section of the American Bar Association.
