Why You Need an Expert for Jury Selection and Trial Strategy
The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that about 96% of personal injury cases are settled out of court. This means that the majority of victims—often after extensive negotiating—end up accepting a settlement amount offered by an insurance company.
Roughly 4% of victims decide to sue the at-fault party. This may be because the defendant denies liability. Or, the settlement offered falls short of what the victim feels is full and fair compensation for their injuries.
Since so few personal injury cases make it to court, it’s not surprising that some attorneys might not have much practice arguing before a judge and jury. This makes it crucial to find someone with experience in litigation if your personal injury case goes to trial. Successful representation has knowledge that covers juror selection, deciding who should testify, and how to build an overall trial strategy.
The Art and Science of Juror Selection
Taking a case to court means putting the decision about compensation in the hands of a jury. This can be a gamble, so it’s important to choose jurors wisely.
Voir dire is the legal term for the process of questioning potential jurors to see who will participate in the trial. Along with the judge, lawyers for both the plaintiff and defendant ask various questions to determine if each person will be fair and impartial—and likely to rule in their favor.
If you’re the victim whose personal injury case goes to trial, your attorney’s juror selection techniques should include the following:
Identifying Biases
Unfortunately, some people carry prejudices or have a strong distrust of others based on factors such as race, religion, lifestyle, occupation, etc. The judge and attorneys will weed out people whose beliefs may prevent them from being fair and impartial.
Assessing Attitudes About Personal Injury Cases
Potential jurors may have strong feelings about personal injury cases. It’s up to the attorneys to discover if those feelings will help or hurt their case. For example, there may be a preconception that anyone suing for a large sum of money is greedy or may be exaggerating their injuries. This juror might be biased to rule for an at-fault driver rather than the victim. On the other hand, a potential juror with a distrust of insurance companies or big corporations might be very generous to the victim of a slip and fall at a retail store.
Psychological Factors
Experienced attorneys do a little bit of psychological profiling when interviewing jurors. When representing a personal injury victim, they will want people who show common sense and the ability to understand a complex case. They will look for those who will be sympathetic to what their client is going through, while also being able to assign blame and make someone pay the price of their negligence.
Prior Life Experiences
Questioning a juror about their background, lifestyle, and occupation can be very informative, especially when it comes to the type of case. If a potential juror (or someone they are close to) has personally been on either side of a similar case, they could be inclined to rule for the person they most identify with.
A person’s job might determine whether or not they get on a jury. For example, someone in the medical field may understand a victim’s injuries but might make incorrect assumptions about treatment costs. Or someone who works for a trucking company may judge how a truck driver should have acted in a crash. Finding out a juror’s occupation won’t necessarily rule them out or get them on a jury, but it will signal to an attorney the need for follow-up questions.
Non-Verbal Cues
Good trial attorneys learn to read jurors’ behavior and body language. They will notice things like crossed arms, frowns, or eye rolls that make a person’s attitude clear. People who seem bored, distracted, or hostile aren’t likely to be good jurors.
Jury Composition
The jury as a whole is as important as each individual juror selected. A diverse group with a mix of ages, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds is best for productive discussions and good group dynamics.
Trial Strategy and Asking Targeted Questions
A lawyer with voir dire experience will have already decided on a trial strategy before they ask a single question during juror selection. In fact, they will craft questions that get to the heart of the case—and how the jury might lean—even before opening statements.
For example, Hipskind & McAninch recently defended a victim who slipped and fell at a well-known fast food restaurant. The company would not budge from an extremely low settlement offer. Although the attorney planned to explain how the company was negligent and tried to blame the victim, the primary trial strategy focused on greed. Specifically, that it wasn’t the victim but the company that was greedy by refusing to pay for damages that far exceeded their low-ball offer.
To lay the groundwork for these arguments, Hipskind & McAninch asked potential jurors if they felt it was greedy to ask for money. Those who said yes were then asked how they felt about someone who did something wrong and then refused to pay a debt they owed as a result. These two simple questions allowed for jury picks that understood and agreed with the concept of being held liable for provable negligence—and who awarded the victim ten times the original offer!
Targeting questions to a trial strategy can also be important when it comes to who will testify. For example, if an attorney does not want their client to testify, they can ask the juror if they think it’s odd when someone won’t take the stand. Some people might assume guilt or that the person has something to hide if they don’t make a statement in court. The lawyer can choose to reject jurors who show this bias.
When Your Personal Injury Case Goes to Trial
Statistics show that most personal injury cases are settled and never turn into lawsuits. But if your case does get litigated, you will want someone like Hipskind & McAninch to represent you.
With voir dire experience, H&M knows not only what to ask a prospective juror, but also how to interpret their answers and read their body language. Most importantly, they are skilled at crafting trial strategies that win cases for their clients.If you are hurt due to someone else’s negligence, you deserve full compensation for your injuries. Contact Hipskind & McAninch for a free consultation about your case.
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