Jury Selection in Employment Litigation: Preparing for Voir Dire, Identifying Bias, Leveraging Strikes
As in all trials, jury selection is a critical element in successfully trying employment law claims. Prospective jurors in employment litigation usually have strong values and preconceived ideas based on their own personal experiences regarding the employer-employee relationship. This is even more true today in a post-COVID legal environment. These beliefs definitely impact how a juror views a case.
By using time-tested jury selection techniques, including questions designed to elicit jurors' attitudes towards employers, employment litigators can develop insights into potential jurors and, most importantly, weed out those they don't want to keep on the jury.
Listen as our expert panel discusses successful techniques in preparing for voir dire, eliciting potential biases among prospective jurors, and selecting a jury that will be most open to supporting your clients' position.
Outline
- Use of themes in jury selection
- Effective questioning to determine biases and identify who to strike
- Use of juror questionnaires
- Dealing with a tainted jury panel
- Pros and cons of using social media in jury selection
Benefits
The panel will review these and other high priority issues:
- What techniques can employment litigators use to increase the relatability of an employer by potential jurors during jury selection?
- What types of open-ended questions elicit biases of potential jurors?
- How does one convince a judge to allow the use of juror questionnaires, and how are they best used efficiently and effectively?
- How can employment litigators properly precondition jurors to fundamental themes in their case during voir dire?
Speaker:
- Stephen E. Fox, Partner, Sheppard Mullin
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