Keep the jurors you want–and eliminate the ones you don't.
You're standing center stage in the courtroom, minutes away from asking sixty complete strangers – many with a fear of public speaking – to share their deepest-held beliefs and prejudices with you and everyone present. Jury selection can be intimidating, but with Lisa Blue and Robert Hirschhorn in your corner, you'll be armed to handle everything from reticent panel members to the most hostile jurors.
Conducting Voir Dire reveals the principles of successful jury selection and takes you step-by-step through the process. In this compact and accessible handbook, Blue and Hirschhorn show you how to:
- Work with a judge who conducts part, or all, of voir dire
- Convince potential jurors to acknowledge their biases and answer sensitive questions
- Establish credibility with panel members and gain their respect
- Manage your time wisely
- Remember your key points and keep track of the information you collect
- Argue challenges for cause and effectively use peremptory strikes
Lisa Blue and Robert Hirschhorn have distilled decades of successful experience into this easy-to-use guide to navigating the murky waters of voir dire. Before you step into the courtroom to pick your next jury, turn to Conducting Voir Dire for clear and dependable advice.
- Publisher's Note
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- The Judge's Voir Dire
- Selecting the Right Tool for the Job
- Plaintiff's Voir Dire: A Road Map
- Plaintiff's Voir Dire: A Tool Kit
- The Defense Voir Dire
- Inoculating Favorable Jurors
- Identifying Unfavorable Panel Members
- Challenges for Cause
- Exercising Peremptory Strikes
- Conclusion
- Index
- About the Authors
- CD Content
View Excerpt
What Legal Leaders Are Saying
— David Ball, trial consultant and author of David Ball on Damages and Theater Tips and Strategies for Jury TrialsConducting Voir Dire is a first-rate primer that helps with the basics, from how to write your notes (though I hope you won’t write them yourself) during voir dire, to the most advanced steps of deciding peremptory and cause challenges. The book draws on a long, rich tradition dating back to the legendary Cathy Bennett, who was one of the great originators and guides of trial consulting. Conducting Voir Dire is truly from the wellspring. It has been energized and modernized by Lisa Blue and Bob Hirschhorn, among the greatest teachers of how to make voir dire a process–instead of a gamble.
— Mary Alice McLarty, past president of the American Association for Justice and the Dallas Trial Lawyers AssociationI have been listening to Lisa Blue and Robert Hirschhorn give presentations on voir dire and jury selection for over twenty-five years. Although their first book, Preparing for Voir Dire, was seemingly exhaustive on the subject, they have brought fresh and insightful thoughts about the new vistas of trial after the social media explosion. Their ideas on how to engage your judge in voir dire are incredibly helpful. This is a book I will pick up and study before my next trial.
— Pat Malone, member of the Inner Circle of Advocates, coauthor of Rules of the Road, and author of Winning Medical Malpractice Cases and The Life You SaveThis little book is chock-full of big ideas—practical ways to ramp up your jury selection skills to get your trial off to the right start. This masterly, but accessible, advice from two of the best helps turn a difficult and awkward process into a thing of beauty. I read every word and learned a lot.
— Charla Aldous, member of the Inner Circle of Advocates and listed in Best Lawyers in America each year since 2003This ‘little blue book’ is a treasure. It’s a quick read, but you will want to have your highlighter and tabs ready! It’s full of practical tips that can benefit even the most experienced trial lawyer.