The state Supreme Court has declined to wade into the issue of whether a potential juror's client relationship with a party's law firm warrants striking that juror from a case.

The court denied allocatur last week in DeFrancesco v. Lehigh Valley Health Network, letting stand the Superior Court's decision not to strike a juror from a medical malpractice case, even though he was a ­client of the same firm representing ­defendants in that case.

In affirming a defense verdict, a three-judge panel of the Superior Court ruled May 26 that the Lehigh County trial court was correct in not striking a juror whose estate matter was being handled by a different attorney at Gross McGinley who worked at a different branch than defense counsel in the case.