Particularly in high-stakes cases, where there is pre-existing bias against a party, jury selection is key to a successful outcome. But attorneys often focus on the wrong things. The key to effective voir dire and jury selection is for attorneys to understand the right questions to ask—and how to ask them.
Our approach differs from other trial consultants. We integrate three elements: coaching attorneys on trial-tested voir dire techniques; crafting voir dire scripts and juror questionnaires that are strategically designed to flush out your worst jurors; and, if requested, assisting in court by observing the jury, taking detailed notes on their answers, writing voir dire follow up questions on the fly, and helping argue cause challenges and make strike decisions.
Principal Sarah Murray is an acknowledged expert in jury selection and voir dire; she has coached attorneys nationwide in effective voir dire, including repeat sessions for US Department of Justice attorneys (anti-trust division), and has regularly conducted private voir dire coaching sessions and workshops for both the civil and criminal bar.
When I first started working with you, I had already done maybe 100 jury trials. I was surprised at what I still had to learn about voir dire and jury selection. I’ve used the skills I learned on every case I’ve tried since, to great success—so the value went far beyond what you brought to the cases on which we worked together.”
— Jeff R. Street, Partner, Hodgkinson Street Mepham
For more information, we invite you to read Sarah’s white paper on using jury questionnaires: “Eliciting Juror Bias under Trial Constraints: Why Open Court Voir Dire Is Often Not Enough.”
