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Signing up is easy. Just go to the  Neighborhood News page at www.JonCohenRealty.com – or click the photo above – and sign yourself up. You can also send me an email at Jon@JonCohenRealty.com with the zip code of any neighborhood where you might like to live or buy investment property.  You will receive your first Neighborhood News right away and receive monthly updates with fresh data every 30 days.

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The Multnomah County Courthouse is not for sale – yet! However, as I reinstate my real estate blog, something from my days as a lawyer is crossing into my real estate world.

Later this month I will have the honor and the duty to fulfill my civic responsibility to appear for jury duty, and hopefully be chosen to sit on a jury.  While this statement may trigger memories of the creative excuses you manufactured to avoid jury duty, or the times you cringed at the thought of spending any part of a day, or several days, listening to lawyers, witnesses and judges, I’m still looking forward to the opportunity to serve on a jury for the first time.

By now, you are probably wondering why this real estate broker is writing a blog post about jury duty, and why is he using words like “honor,” “duty,” “responsibility,” and “opportunity.” I’ll explain.

Almost 35 years ago, not long after I graduated from college, I received a notice from the Boulder County, Colorado Court calling me in for jury duty.  As a soon-to-be law student, I was excited about the possibility of serving as a juror.  During the jury selection process, one of the lawyers asked if I was employed and where I worked.  I told him that I was employed at the Denver law firm of Fairfield and Woods as an office clerk.  The lawyer turned and spoke briefly with the judge, and the judge then informed me that I was excused.

The next time I was called for jury duty was in Portland, after I completed law school and began working as a lawyer.  The story line didn’t change much over the years.  The Court called me for jury duty, I appeared as requested, and, if called to a courtroom for jury selection, one of the lawyers summarily dismissed me because I worked as a lawyer.  For so many years I’ve wanted to serve on a jury. And for so many years I’ve missed that opportunity because most lawyers prefer not to have other lawyers serve on their juries.

Now, perhaps my time has come.  I’m a real estate broker now and have been for almost 14 years.  Will I finally have the honor and the opportunity to experience all the responsibilities of jury duty? I’ll let you know in a couple of weeks.

Cheers.