Most litigators agree that trials can be won or lost during jury selection. That’s why a lawyer’s skills during voir dire are so critical. Yet:
- Few lawyers ever develop the kind of systematic approach that is required for the task.
- Frustration with the process causes too many lawyers to “wing it,” thus losing their one opportunity to ferret out harmful biases.
- Even when lawyers do get good information, they don’t always know what to do with it.
Jury selections occur too infrequently and the stakes are too high to learn from mistakes. Whether you have picked many juries or none at all, you can convert frustration into effectiveness by using demonstrated techniques that work not just for that once-in-a-lifetime case but for every case.