The Runaway Jury

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness, death, addiction, substance use, and pregnancy termination.

Nicholas, or Jeff, is one of the main characters of The Runaway Jury. He is a 27-year-old man originally from Austin, Texas. He attended Rice University for his undergraduate degree before completing a year of law school at Kansas University, where he met Marlee/Claire Clement/Gabrielle Brant and fell in love. Disgusted by the largess of corporate law, Nicholas dropped out and began following Marlee around the country, pursuing various tobacco litigation trials. Since the novel is more plot driven than character driven, Nicholas’s character development is limited. Instead, the focus of his character arc is the discovery of who he is and what he plans to do with the influence he cultivates over his fellow jurors. Nicholas first appears in the narrative through the surveillance of the jury consulting firm that Fitch hires. The consultants photograph Nicholas at his job at Computer Hut, and when they review the photos, they note, 

The face in the photo was lean and tanned and smiling slightly with lips closed. […] He appeared neat, in shape, and the man who took the photo actually spoke with Nicholas as he pretended to shop for an obsolete gadget; said he was articulate, helpful, knowledgeable, a nice young man (1).