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Ok...so I moved just outside of Pittsburgh and have lived in Allegheny County for a total of 8 months and I have already been summoned and selected for jury duty.  How lucky am I?  Over the course of the past few days I have compiled some tips that I would like to share.

 I was selected for a Civil Case in the Court of Common Pleas.  This is located on the 7th floor of the City County Building on Grant Street.

What to wear:  I will tell you to wear something comfortable.  Make sure that you dress appropriately for the weather.  The City County Building is not climate controlled very well and it can get hot.  Nothing is worse then listening to a video deposition and being hot and uncomfortable.  In the instructions that are sent they say they will send you home if you show up wearing jeans.  I have not found this to be true.  Many of the jurors have been wearing jeans from selection day straight through the trial and nothing has been said.  So if you really want to wear jeans you can probably get away with it.

Where to park:  I was fortunate and decided to park, starting on my first day, in the Chatham garage downtown.  It is located near the Mellon Arena.  This was the recommended parking lot listed in the instructions.  It only costs $5.00 a day to park when you present them your juror voucher.  There is parking that is closer, but much more expensive, usually more then $20.00 for the day.  The Chatham garage is about a two block walk that takes me less about 5 minutes to walk.  It is clean and feels safe as long as there aren't any car fires that day.

What to bring:  On the first day, jury selection day, make sure to bring something to keep you occupied.  A book, magazines, your laptop, whatever you need to keep yourself entertained.  I just got a brand new Mac Book a few days before I went for jury duty selection and decided not to take it to be on the safe side.  Well I regretted that decision.  Go ahead and bring your laptop along with you.  You can at least grab the free wireless downtown for 2 hours.  Beyond that you may need to use a cell phone or air card for your laptop.  Be prepared to shut it down quickly when you are called.  Make sure to bring cash with you as well.  You will need this to pay for parking and your lunch if you don't bring it with you.  Bring some water and a snack to eat.  The vending machines are expensive and even have expired product in them.  One of the other jurors on my case found that out the hard way!

Where to eat:  You usually get about a hour to eat.  This is PLENTY of time to visit any one of the many of the fine eateries located near-by.  I found most lunches will range in the $5.00 - $8.00 area.  You also get a "discount voucher" which many of the restaurants honor.  There is list of the participating restaurants in the jury room lounge.  If you try and stay on Grant Street your choices are limited, however you go one block to Smithfield and you have numerous options. 

Other Tips:  When you arrive to fulfill your civic duty you are going to have to go through a metal detector.  Make sure that you are prepared so you don't hold up people behind you.  This also does take an extra minute or two so plan ahead accordingly.  This means leave all your brass knuckles, knives, and guns in your car.  Even though you may have a score to settle with some lawyers this may not be the right place to do it.

Lastly you can find some more information on the Allegheny Courts web site. 

That is about all I can think of for now.  If I can come up with any more ideas I will make sure to update this.

Good luck not getting selected for a case and I hope this will make your jury duty a little more pleasant.  

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