Voir Dire
Preparation

Rather than leaving jury selection to presuppositions and instinct, Focus Litigation Consulting will devise a research-tested voir dire strategy, including voir questions designed to disclose juror backgrounds, beliefs, attitudes, and biases. Specifically, we will learn about your case (i.e., reviewing pleadings, factual memos, deposition transcripts, mock trial reports and associated data) and craft voir dire questions to be submitted to the judge and/or used in attorney-conducted voir dire. Voir dire preparation also consists of working with the trial team to create a strategic plan for structuring voir dire at trial and executing peremptory and for-cause challenges.

Additionally, if allowable by the Court, Focus Litigation Consulting will create a supplemental written juror questionnaire to be used in conjunction with voir dire. Supplemental juror questionnaires are an often overlooked yet highly effective method of vetting jurors for bias. Supplemental juror questionnaires provide the trial team with a rich and reliable source of intelligence regarding the psychological disposition of potential jurors. Jurors’ responses can be more easily parsed for accurate analysis and interpretation, and the process of committing their answers to writing helps protect jurors against peer pressure during later deliberations. Additionally, supplemental juror questionnaires are useful when the case involves sensitive or high profile issues, as they permit prospective jurors to reveal personal experiences and attitudes privately.

Focus Litigation Consulting will prepare a supplemental juror questionnaire based on our review of pertinent case documents and communications with the trial team. When pretrial research (mock trial or focus group research) has been conducted, FLC will structure the supplemental juror questionnaire so as to incorporate the juror profiling results from the research to elicit the maximum amount of useful information from the venire.