My number came up for jury duty. I think I've actually gone downtown twice over the past 30 years. That's not an oppressive imposition and I'm happy to go. But this time, the trial I got called out for was projected to be a four week trial. I requested a hardship exclusion, since four weeks out of the office would be pretty hard to work around - I don't have an employer to cover my salary while I'm sitting in judgement. I tried to sort out the level of effort to try and squeeze billable time around the court time and couldn't see it working. What's weird, imho, is that they excused me all together. Rather than throwing me back in the pool for a shorter trial. If they had a nice two day trial, I could have worked that in.