Thomas Jefferson called the jury system "the only anchor yet imagined by man by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution." The ABA currently has a significant body of work including general principles on the right to jury trial, jury selection, conducting a jury trial, deliberations and decision-making, post-verdict activity and other principles and practices relating to jury management. The task of the American Jury Project, established in 2004 by former American Bar Association President Robert Grey, was to review the current standards and determine how they should be consolidated, improved or updated.

On October 15, 2004, the American Jury Project held a National Symposium on the American Jury System at Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Virginia. The purpose of the symposium was to vet the revision and consolidation of the current ABA standards on the jury system. Symposium participants included judges, lawyers, academics, jury experts, court administrators, bar leaders and others interested in the health of our nation's jury system. The revised principles were overwhelmingly approved by the ABA House of Delegates during the ABA Midyear Meeting in February 2005, and are now available to the public.