(Reuters) - Picking a jury is arguably the most important part of a trial. If you seat a dozen people who are biased against you, the case could be lost before it even begins.

A year into the pandemic, trials - virtual or in-person - are slowly resuming. But jury selection poses a host of troubling new considerations.

Even before the shutdown 12 months ago, courts struggled to ensure that the age, race and socioeconomic status of juror pools reflected their communities.

That's only gotten more difficult, jury consultants tell me, pointing to pandemic-related factors that are warping the jury pool in some unexpected ways.

Kacy Miller, president and founder of CourtroomLogic Consulting, recently advised on two in-person jury trials: a two-week trade secrets case in the Eastern District of Texas and a similarly complex state court case in Colorado.

In both instances, she said, the judges dismissed would-be jurors who said they were afraid that jury service would expose them to COVID-19.

Likewise, Chad Lackey, a director in DOAR's jury consulting practice, told me that in his experience, judges have been "very open about letting people concerned about COVID get off" from in-person jury service.

I get it. Personally, I wouldn't be comfortable sitting in a courtroom for two weeks with a bunch of strangers either.

But excusing COVID worriers has wider ramifications.

Miller has found that "the folks who are less concerned, the ones who view (COVID) as 'nothing more than the flu,' tend to be fiscally conservative and in favor of less government." She added, "Those issues right there alone tend to favor defendants."

At the same time, she said, people who "are more fearful of COVID" often come from minority groups (and for good reason, considering their higher death rates) and tend to be more left-leaning on the political spectrum, Miller said. Of course, she said, this was a generalization and plenty of exceptions exist.

Wait.

So does that mean civil defendants are enjoying a windfall jury pool advantage for in-person trials?

It kind of sounds that way.

Jill Leibold, a shareholder and director at Litigation Insights, did a deep dive into social media posts by hundreds of jurors. The results are in line with Miller's observations.

"Jurors who are especially fearful of contracting COVID tend to lean in favor of plaintiffs," she said in a webinar sponsored by Dykema on Tuesday.

In a follow-up interview, I asked her about the findings. She told me her team analyzed social media posts by hundreds of people called for jury duty pre-pandemic, and whose completed juror questionnaires Litigation Insights had kept on file.

The result? The "worst jurors" from a defense perspective were the people who expressed the most worry about COVID on social media.

Fearful people in general tend to sympathize with plaintiffs, Leibold said, and "COVID anxiety actually brought in a whole new group of fearful people."

If COVID worriers won't serve on juries in person, what about Zoom trials? Are the tables turned, with an influx of newly fearful, pro-plaintiff jurors?

Maybe. But virtual proceedings present their own barriers. Certain demographics, such as older jurors and those from lower socioeconomic classes, might be under-represented.

While some courts loan tablets to jurors for the duration of a trial, other jurisdictions rely on people to supply their own devices. Lower-income jurors might not be able to afford them, and older ones might not know how to use them.

Jurors also need a high-speed internet connection and a quiet place to sit for hours.

The proceedings themselves tend to have less emotional resonance as well, Lackey of DOAR said.

"Seeing someone cry on Zoom is a little different than seeing them cry in person."

Moreover, there's a heightened gravitas to the proceedings "when you're sitting in a courtroom rather than in your living room," he added.

As the backlog of cases builds, courts right now are in something of a no-win situation, with both in-person and Zoom trials flawed.

Miller, however, believes that the courts will ultimately acclimate as necessary.

"The American jury system has always faced challenges: low pay, not enough citizens turning up for jury duty, accusations of bias, and more," she wrote in a blog. "COVID-19 is just the latest challenge."

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