Jury selection is grinding along in Suffolk Superior Court where a judge is targeting Wednesday to start a trial for a lawsuit that alleges the Boston Water and Sewer Commission’s HR director stiffed a woman out of a $75,000 mortgage loan.

Eight of 14 jurors were seated over a nearly 5-hour period on Tuesday, a grueling process where roughly 40 others were either rejected — in part for perceived bias over their prior dealings with business or personal loans — or excused for hardship and holiday travel, while attorneys in the case clashed and their clients looked on.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendant Marie Theodat, human resources director of the Boston Water and Sewer Commission, took out a $75,000 mortgage loan from the plaintiff Gertha Pierre that she quickly defaulted on and has not paid back, despite signing a promissory note.  Theodat denies the allegations, according to court filings.

Theodat also denies the legality of the promissory note, for its alleged violation of the Massachusetts Criminal Usury Statute, which her attorney Jeanette Lucey unsuccessfully sought Tuesday to bar from being presented as evidence in the trial, per a motion filed and later rejected by the judge, according to court filings.

Theodat is also the subject of a counter-claim from Ernst Guerrier, a prior co-defendant and now potential witness, that seeks to make her responsible for whatever he is alleged to owe Pierre, per prior statements from Pierre’s attorney.

As the attorney who helped Pierre secure the loan, Guerrier was previously facing malpractice allegations for withholding pertinent information from Pierre that may have made her think twice about making the $75,000 mortgage loan.

Theodat is embroiled in another civil lawsuit, a higher-profile case from August that alleges she worked with relatives to swindle a $1.1 million Dorchester home from her elderly and dementia-ridden uncle for “less than $100,” under the “guise” that he was signing medical documents.

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A motion filed by Lucey highlights some of the tension seen Tuesday between the bickering attorneys. The filing seeks to bar reference during the outstanding loan trial to Theodat’s salary at Boston Water and Sewer, where she makes about $189,958.

The day ended with Suffolk Judge Julie Green asking if the attorneys representing the three parties in the lawsuit would be amenable to proceeding to trial on Wednesday with fewer than 14 jurors, which was agreed to by two of the three.

Lucey noted she had been seeking a full 12 jurors, and, when asked by the judge if 10 jurors and two alternates would be acceptable, said she had to confer with her client, Theodat, who appeared to be dictating part of the day’s jury selection — with a head nod or shake to let Lucey know whether to accept or object to a juror.

Jury selection will continue Wednesday at 9 a.m. Green expressed optimism that the trial would kick off with opening statements later in the day.