Authored by Geoff Vaughan in Make Money Online
Published on 10-01-2009
There’s no doubt that one of the most valuable things the internet has contributed to society is its ability to connect people regardless of geographical location. Whether it was through the early chat rooms and message boards, or the modern day social networking sites such as FaceBook and Twitter, the internet has transformed the way we interact and also do business. One website to take advantage of this notion is eJury.com, a tool that attorneys can use to “pre-try” cases before they go to trial.
The main idea behind this site is the idea that it is beneficial for an attorney to be able to present his or her case to a mock jury to get its opinion before the case actually goes to trial before a real jury. eJury.com facilitates this by signing up disinterested parties to serve as jurors. There are only a few qualifications to be a juror; mainly, the person has to be a U.S. Citizen of legal age, be of good character and sound mind, be literate, and not have any felonies or be under indictment for a felony. In addition, each juror must sign an oath that he or she is not employed in a legal position, not be related to an attorney either by blood or marriage, and not employed as an insurance adjuster.
One thing that makes eJury.com compelling is that the mock juries which review the attorneys’ cases are made up of at least 50 people. That way, the person who presents the case can get a wide range of opinions about which arguments make sense and are persuasive, and which are not helpful to the case.
What’s in it for the jurors? In a word, money. According to the website, each juror receives around 5 or 10 dollars to serve on a panel to review a case. That may not seem like much, but the average amount of time spent on a case is reportedly about 35 minutes. When calculated per hour, the pay compares with other part time jobs with similar qualifications and duties. And it is similar to what one can expect to make in other online opportunities such as writing articles and taking surveys. Some find reviewing the cases interesting as well. So not only are they making a little bit of money, but they are doing something they enjoy and probably learning something at the same time.
So the question remains, is EJury.com legit? It certainly seems so. There are many accounts online of past and present jurors who have successfully signed up, reviewed one or more cases, and received payment via PayPal. One common complaint is that once one is signed up, the cases are very slow to arrive in the person’s inbox, and often several months will pass between jobs. Obviously, an eJuror cannot expect to use the site as a regular source of extra money. But if used in conjunction with other online money-making opportunities, eJury.com can be a nice little boost to one’s bottom line every now and then.
