If you wish to engage as a paid online juror for eJury, first learn what is eJury about. As an eJuror, you can take part in online focus groups and mock trials via the internet.
What Is eJury About?
The company, eJury LLC, started business in November 1999.
A trial attorney, Christopher L. Barby, founded the company when he realized that the internet can empower attorneys to better handle their cases (by collecting the knowledge of other people).
For all cases they handle, attorneys know that it is not what they think, which matters, but what the jurors believe. This is the concept involved in how eJury works.
From its date of inception, eJury has grown to be a well-known online mock jury/focus group because it eliminates the hassles of traditional mock trials, such as high cost, and more elaborate process.
You may find other similar platforms for paid online jurors, but eJury is one of the most commendable.
How Does eJury Work?
Through eJury, attorneys could learn about other people’s opinions and insights about a case. This option is more convenient and cheaper than a traditional live mock trial.
Online mock trials enable more people to cooperate so the attorney can get more feedback that will help him determine the value, promote settlement, develop themes or prepare for the trial of a particular case.
One case will have 50 eJurors. Each of the jurors will study the case (about 5 pages long).
You will have 10 questions to answer after you have read and studied the case details. Five questions are about the case, while the remaining five will ask for your opinion.
A courthouse case trial usually has a 12-member jury. With the minimum 50 eJurors per case at eJury, an attorney can gather more than enough feedback about a case.
The attorney will prepare the case, which includes the facts and perspectives from each party involved in the case. This case submission will also contain the questions that eJurors must answer.
You can view a sample case here to see the case presentation and what possible questions you need to answer as paid juror at eJury.
The eJurors can access the HTML version of the attorney’s case submission through a secure location on the website.
Only selected eJurors will have access to this case and will receive notification regarding their selection for this case. In most instances, they select eJurors from the same country of case filing.
If you receive email notification about a case you need to study, you may log in to the website to review the case and answer the questions. Once you have provided your answers, hit “Submit Verdict” button.
Once the minimum of 50 eJurors submit their verdict, the case automatically concludes. They post the case summary for those who like to read about the resulting verdict.
Eligibility As An eJuror
The qualifications to become an eJuror are like the qualifications a person should meet to be eligible for jury service in the US.
These include
- minimum 18 years old
- US citizenship
- with good moral character and sound mind
- ability to read and write
- no felony conviction
- not under indictment/felony charge/misdemeanor charge/legal accusation.
There are other special qualifications for new eJurors.
They should
- not be a practicing attorney/paralegal/legal assistant
- not used by a law firm or an attorney
- no relation with an attorney and
- not used as an insurance adjuster.
A prerequisite for the job is a PayPal account to receive your payment if you ever work on a case.
Number Of Cases To Handle
As mentioned earlier, the location where you live will affect your selection for a case. Therefore, eJury members from large metro areas may get to work on more cases.
They found the company in Dallas and Tarrant, so if you are from these cities, you may expect about one case in a week.
The platform is open to all 50 states of the US, but those living in rural areas might only have fewer cases to study than those from major metro areas.
Potential Issues
Working as an eJuror is not a stable job. It only presents an attractive option for a side hustle.
If you get selected as an eJuror for a case, it is hard to just let the opportunity pass since you only need to study a case and then share your understanding and opinion. There is no right or wrong answer.
However, understand that you cannot work as an eJuror as much as you like since the number of cases vary per location.
When you join eJury, do not set your expectations very high so you will not feel disappointed.
As an example, you'll come across a review in the internet about one eJuror who had to wait for 6 months before getting a case, but expressed her fascination when she received notification to take part in an online focus group.
She got her $9 payment through PayPal after a week.
The job of an eJuror is interesting because you really need to study and think about the facts presented in a case. It is not a job that you can just mindlessly perform.
eJuror Tips
Do not be afraid to answer questions sincerely. There are no wrong answers. The questions are not like examinations where you will get a score or a grade.
What the questions aim to achieve is to gather people’s opinions.
You will most likely find questions as verbose since lawyers derive their questions from the Texas Pattern Jury Charges (volume of compiled books by the lawyers’ committees).
Remember that every word in the case details and questions have legal implications.
The phrase “if any,” which you will encounter many times, is used to indicate that you should assume nothing (like injuries, negligence or damages) has occurred, although the question states it.
You might also find instructions placed before many of the questions concerning how you will answer the next questions. Follow these instructions to save time.
For example, if the jury finds there was no negligence by the defendant, then you need not answer the questions about the damages that the plaintiff should receive.
Regarding the topic about awarding damages, you find that there are some elements of damages you can easily determine, like lost wages, property damages and medical expenses.
Intangible damages give eJurors and attorneys alike a challenging evaluation.
Keep in mind that you should not compare one case from another because there are no mathematical standards, parameters and guidelines that will apply to all cases.
Thus, look at each case carefully (parties involved, witnesses, etc). Give your opinion.
If there is a question that you do not understand, skip it. This will allow the attorney to discern your lack of understanding about that question.
Instead, provide an explanation why you do not understand the question and the difficulty you experienced when trying to come up with answers.
How Much Does It Cost To Join?
There are no fees or payments to settle to become part of eJury. Yet, there is also no guarantee that there are cases available or that you will get cases to study even after waiting for months.
Case assignments vary according to location, availability of attorneys and demographic details.
eJury Sign Up
To become a member, head over here. The registration process is simple. You will provide your personal details so the company can determine your eligibility. Be sure to answer the survey questions with all honesty.
Potential Income
The payments vary. This is because the length of a case determines the payment that eJurors will receive ($5-10).
You can view the pay rate for each case at the top of every case. The company sends payments via PayPal after 50 eJurors submit their verdict.
Work Schedule
The work of eJurors is on an on-call schedule. You will never know when you will receive a notification for a case. Thus, it will help not to miss any opportunity if you can regularly check your email.
One case would not even take an hour to complete.
A 6-page case may take about 35 minutes only. Expect to spend more time on your first case since you have no prior experience yet.
While you are on call, you could still consider this as a flexible schedule.
Looking For A Legit Work-From-Home Job?
Is eJury Legitimate?
PROS
CONS
If you pass the qualifications set by eJury, you can sign up.
Even though it might take months to receive a case assignment, it can be a good side hustle for a 30-minute job.
However, analyze a case within a healthy amount of time instead of working so hard, so you can still use you time for other more profitable jobs.
Blogging is an example of an online profitable job. Grab my free blogging training below to learn how to build a more reliable income online.