Litigation

A New Set of Voir Dire Tips

By Evan Schaeffer

In "Eight Tips for Better Voir Dire," John H. Mathias, Jr., weighs in with some good voir dire tips for the ABA Litigation Section. Here are the tips--

• Leave each prospective juror feeling good about answering your questions;
• Never talk down to any prospective juror;
• Beware of the "evil eye";
• Use voir dire to get the jury to embrace your expert witnesses;
• Ask potential jurors if they like crossword puzzles;
• Find out whether potential jurors are victims or individualists;
• Break the ice for a large damages claim;
• Don't ask silly questions just to please a jury consultant.

Read the full article to get the tips explained, then print it out to add to your voir dire file. The tip about experts is especially good reading.

Credit for the link goes to Celia Elwell, a paralegal in Oklahoma City who complies useful links for a widely-read email.

Full post as published by The Illinois Trial Practice Blog on October 30, 2007 (boomark / email).