Commentator: Shari Seidman Diamond Howard J. Trienens Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology
Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
The United States is in a period of democratic decline, marked by waning commitment to self-governance and declining trust in public institutions. In this moment, the civil jury offers an often-overlooked avenue for democratic renewal. By welcoming laypeople into the courthouse and deputizing them as constitutional actors, civil juries express faith in representative governance and can generate sociopolitical and administrative benefits that extend well beyond dispute resolution.
Professor Richard Lorren Jolly will present his ongoing project examining the jury as a site of democratic participation at a time when other institutions are faltering. In an age of polarization and declining trust, the jury remains one of the few places where ordinary citizens are brought together across lines of politics, race, class and religion to deliberate face-to-face and effectuate outcomes. As Tocqueville observed, “[juries] make all men feel that they have duties toward society and that they take a share in its government.” That insight is, if anything, more urgent today: the jury teaches democratic habits of listening, persuasion and compromise at a time when such habits are eroding.
His talk will consider what it would mean to take the civil jury seriously as a democratic institution, and what reforms might be necessary to preserve and strengthen lay participation in civil adjudication for the future.
Richard Lorren Jolly is a professor of law at Southwestern Law School, where he teaches Torts and Evidence. His scholarship focuses on questions of civil justice, with particular attention to the socio-political and structural role of lay participation in judicial decision-making, especially through juries. In this work, he engages questions of access to justice, the role of Article III courts and the democratic development of the common law, with attention to courts’ procedural and substantive legitimacy. His writing has appeared in the
Michigan Law Review,
Vanderbilt Law Review,
Boston University Law Review,
Boston College Law Review,
Georgia Law Review,
Washington Law Review,
Pepperdine Law Review and
DePaul Law Review, among others. His forthcoming book,
The Law of the American Jury, is under contract with Carolina Academic Press.
Before joining Southwestern, Professor Jolly was a research fellow with the Civil Jury Project at NYU School of Law and with the Civil Justice Research Initiative at UC Berkeley School of Law. Before entering academia, he practiced as a litigation associate at Susman Godfrey and clerked for Judge Deborah Cook of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Professor Jolly holds degrees from the University of Michigan Law School, the London School of Economics and the University of California, Berkeley.
The Clifford Scholar-in-Residence ProgramThe
Clifford Scholar-in-Residence Program annually recognizes a talented rising star in the field of civil justice and complements the annual
Clifford Symposium on Tort Law & Social Policy , which for over 30 years, has brought together civil justice scholars to exchange ideas and publish their work. The program not only builds upon this tradition but also provides a unique platform for emerging scholars to contribute fresh insights to the field.
The Clifford Scholar-in-Residence Program advances Robert A. Clifford's (JD '76) vision by fostering dialogue of civil justice issues that impact all Americans. A cornerstone of the Program is a presentation to the entire legal community by a rising civil justice scholar, as well as a response from a senior commentator.
Registration
Registration must be completed no later than
April 15, 2026.
There is a room cap of 100 in-person attendees, and online participants will receive a link to view the presentation just ahead of the event.
In-person attendees may be asked to present an ID while on campus. Thank you for your patience and cooperation.