Jury Selection: A Marathon, Not a Sprint

We recently sat on a panel regarding the upcoming change in Illinois from 12-person civil juries to six.  One of the discussed advantages was the potential opportunity to spend more time questioning each juror in the venire, especially since when the number of jurors is cut in half, each becomes even more crucial to the final verdict.

One point raised was how essential it is to spend as much time questioning the last half of your venire as you do the first.  Too often we have observed due to time constraints that the first six or 10 jurors in the box receive the bulk of the questioning, with lots of time spent uncovering their relevant personal experiences and biases and simply getting them talking so the trial teams can get a read on juror personality.  Is this a leader or a follower?  Does he or she have any kind of hidden agenda?  Are there items in their backgrounds that might make them plaintiff or defense oriented, evidence unheard? 

But as more and more jurors are excused and the box refilled, the last few get short shrift.  The vast majority of the time, jurors are simply asked if they have heard what the other jurors were asked and if they have anything to say based on those questions.  As during the entire selection process, yes-or-no questions, rather than open-ended ones, tend to simply elicit blank stares.  Sometimes people speak up, but oftentimes – either because they have truly forgotten all of the questions or because they just want to expedite the process – they just shake their heads and you end up with a few people in that jury box who have never said a single word in open court.

From our perspective, you should know nearly as much about the last person to join your jury as you do about everyone else.  If not, there’s a chance a key fact or issue might be missed.  Additionally, you should take the opportunity to connect with those jurors while you can, hopefully creating an audience that from the start is more receptive to your story.

For more jury selection tips or ideas for voir dire questions for your next trial, contact Senior Vice President Claire Luna at 714.754.1010 or cluna@juryimpact.net.