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The Spodek Law Group – we’re a second-generation firm with over 40 years combined experience. Todd Spodek, he’s been advising grand jury witnesses for decades. We’re helping people understand grand jury service. Daily. Every day!
So your probably thinking grand jury service pays well since it lasts for months. Or maybe your convinced the government compensates you fairly for disrupting your entire life. Worse – you believe your employer has to pay you while your stuck on a grand jury for 18 months.
Wrong. Shockingly wrong.
Maybe you think $50 a day is reasonable compensation. Maybe your hoping your employer will cover the difference. Maybe you believe you can survive financially while serving.
Look. Let me tell you the truth.
Your about to lose thousands – maybe tens of thousands – in income. While serving your country. While doing your civic duty.
The government? They’re paying you less than minimum wage. Way less.
But heres the SHOCKING reality – and it is shocking, truly shocking – federal grand jury service pays just $50 per day according to the U.S. Courts official guidelines, which is meaning your making about $6.25 an hour for an 8-hour day. That’s BELOW minimum wage in every single state!
Your losing money. Every day your serving.
Fifty dollars. That’s it. Fifty dollars a day.
Federal grand jury? $50 per day for the first 45 days. After 45 days of service? Goes up to $60. Sixty! Like that extra ten dollars is making a difference when your missing work for months.
State grand juries? Even worse sometimes. New York? Starts at $40. California? $15 a day unless you serve more than three days. Fifteen dollars! That’s not even covering parking.
Let’s do the math – the real math:
Parking? That’s on you. Lunch? Your paying. Transportation? Your expense. The $50? It’s barely covering your costs of showing up.
Our attorneys have had clients who served on grand juries. They’re telling us horror stories. Bills piling up. Savings depleted. Retirement accounts raided. All for $50 a day.
New York is claiming they pay $72 per day for regular jury duty – sounds better, right? – but wait, that’s for TRIAL juries, not grand juries, and grand jurors in New York are getting just $40 per day, which in New York City – where a sandwich costs $15 and parking is $50 – is basically nothing, absolutely nothing.
The way New York is calculating this “compensation” is insulting, truly insulting, because they’re acting like $40 in Manhattan is the same as $40 in rural upstate, when everyone knows $40 in NYC doesn’t even cover your round-trip subway fare plus lunch, and if your driving? Forget it – parking alone is eating up your entire jury pay and then some.
New York grand juries are meeting two or three times a week, sometimes more during busy periods, and your expected to arrange your entire life around this schedule for months – MONTHS! – while they’re paying you less than a teenager makes at McDonald’s, less than minimum wage, less than unemployment benefits, and they’re wondering why people are trying everything to get out of grand jury service.
Our attorneys are constantly hearing from New Yorkers who served on grand juries and ended up in financial crisis – couldn’t pay rent, couldn’t pay utilities, had to borrow money from family, had to take out loans – all because New York thinks $40 a day is adequate compensation for forcing someone to abandon their livelihood for civic duty that they never asked for.
Federal employees? They’re the lucky ones. The ONLY lucky ones.
Federal law says federal employees get their full salary while serving on juries. Full salary! They’re getting their regular paycheck PLUS the $50 jury pay. Double dipping. Must be nice.
But your not a federal employee, are you? Your in the private sector. And private employers? They’re not required to pay anything. Nothing. Zero.
Some states have laws requiring employers to pay for jury duty. Most don’t. And even in states that do, there are loopholes. Small businesses exempt. Part-time workers excluded. Independent contractors? Good luck.
Your employer might have a policy. Might. Big companies sometimes pay for a few days or weeks. But 18 months of grand jury service? Nobody’s covering that. Nobody.
The disparity is outrageous. Federal employee sitting next to you in the grand jury room? Making their full salary. You? Making $50. Same service. Same time commitment. Completely different compensation.
Why? Because the system was designed in 1789. That’s why.
Back then, $50 was real money. Back then, most people were farmers who could miss a day of work. Back then, grand jury service was an honor, not a financial death sentence.
The government? They’re claiming they can’t afford to pay more. Can’t afford it! The same government spending trillions on everything else can’t afford to fairly compensate grand jurors.
Here’s the real reason – they don’t want to. If they paid fair compensation, the cost would be billions. So instead, they’re forcing citizens to subsidize the justice system with their lost wages.
Think about who this hurts most. Not rich people – they can afford it. Not poor people – they get excused for hardship. It’s middle-class people. Working people. People who can’t claim extreme hardship but can’t afford to lose income.
It’s a regressive tax on the middle class. A hidden tax nobody talks about.
Financial destruction – that’s the main con. The MAIN one.
But there are others. So many others.
Time commitment is crushing. Federal grand juries meet 2-3 times per week. For 18 months. Some meet more often. Some extend to 24 months. Two years of your life.
Secrecy requirements are isolating. You can’t talk about what your hearing. Can’t discuss cases with family. Can’t explain why your stressed. Your carrying secrets that are eating at you.
Emotional toll is real. Your hearing about crimes. Serious crimes. Murder. Child abuse. Fraud that destroyed lives. Then your going home to your family, pretending everything’s normal.
No control over schedule. Court says appear Tuesday? You appear Tuesday. Important meeting at work? Too bad. Kid’s school play? You’re missing it. Family vacation? Cancelled.
Career damage is permanent. Missing months of work? Your career is stalling. Promotions passing you by. Clients finding new vendors. Relationships with colleagues deteriorating.
New Jersey claims they’re paying fairly. They’re not.
Petit jurors in NJ get $5 for the first three days. FIVE DOLLARS. Then it goes up to $40 after day three. Grand jurors? Straight $5 per day. Every day. For months.
Five dollars. In 2024. That’s not even covering the gas to drive to the courthouse.
New Jersey is one of the worst states for jury compensation. The absolute worst. They haven’t updated these rates in decades. DECADES. While cost of living is skyrocketing.
Parking at the courthouse? $20. Lunch? $15. Your losing $30 just to show up and collect your $5. It’s insulting. Beyond insulting.
Our attorneys have represented people who served on New Jersey grand juries. They’re angry. Rightfully angry. Being forced to provide free labor to the state.
Oregon grand juries? They’re meeting once a week for three months. Sounds better than federal, right? Wrong.
Once a week is still disrupting your entire schedule. Still missing work. Still losing income. And Oregon is paying – wait for it – $10 to $50 per day depending on the county. Ten dollars in some counties!
Three months is meaning 12-13 days of service. At $50 per day, that’s $650 total. For three months of disruption. For three months of rearranging your life.
Oregon employers? Not required to pay. Some do, most don’t. Especially small businesses. They can’t afford to pay employees who aren’t working.
The once-a-week schedule is actually harder for some people. Can’t get into a rhythm. Every week, your life is disrupted again. Every week, explaining to your boss why your out. Again.
Arkansas – like most states – is making it nearly impossible to get excused from grand jury service. Nearly impossible.
Health issues? Need doctor’s documentation. Detailed documentation. Not just a note saying your sick. Specific reasons why you can’t serve. And judges are skeptical. Very skeptical.
Family responsibilities? Better be extreme. Single parent with no childcare? Maybe. Caring for elderly parent? Possibly. But “I have kids” isn’t enough. “I have responsibilities” isn’t enough.
Financial hardship? This is the trap. You need to prove EXTREME hardship. Not just that your losing money. Everyone’s losing money. You need to show you’ll lose your home. Lose your utilities. Can’t feed your family.
Employment? Arkansas law specifically says employment is NOT an excuse. Your job doesn’t matter. Your career doesn’t matter. Your business doesn’t matter. The court doesn’t care.
Age? Over 72 in Arkansas can request excusal. Under 72? Your serving. Period.
Call us RIGHT NOW at 212-300-5196
Subpoenaed for grand jury? Need help with hardship excusals?
Available 24/7 to protect your rights and your finances!
The bottom line? The devastating bottom line?
Grand jury pay is a joke. A cruel joke.
$50 a day federal. $40 in New York. $5 in New Jersey. While your losing hundreds or thousands per day in real income.
The system is expecting you to subsidize justice with your financial sacrifice. Your paying to serve. Literally paying.
Federal employees get full salary. Everyone else gets poverty wages. It’s discrimination based on employment.
Eighteen months of service. Seventy-two thousand dollars in lost income. Fifty dollars a day in compensation. The math is criminal.
No real excusals available. No financial protection. No consideration for your life, your career, your family.
Our attorneys see the devastation grand jury service causes. Bankruptcies. Foreclosures. Businesses failing. Careers destroyed. All for $50 a day.
The government is forcing you into financial hardship. Legally. Constitutionally. And there’s almost nothing you can do about it.
Call us NOW if your facing grand jury service – we can advise on hardship excusals, employer negotiations, and protecting your rights. Don’t let grand jury service destroy your finances without fighting back!
This is attorney advertising. Prior results dont guarantee similar outcomes. Grand jury compensation varies by jurisdiction.
Very diligent, organized associates; got my case dismissed. Hard working attorneys who can put up with your anxiousness. I was accused of robbing a gemstone dealer. Definitely A law group that lays out all possible options and best alternative routes. Recommended for sure.
- ROBIN, GUN CHARGES ROBIN
NJ CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEYS