Clik here to view.
Jury attitudes in tough times
Are juries MORE or LESS conservative in tough economictimes? In trying three products cases to verdict in 2008, my experience is thatjurors don't get too excited about an "iffy" liability case in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DRI Members' Duty to Promote Jury Service
Recently, the DRI Jury Service Task Force published its paper (which can be downloaded on the DRI website) in which the Task Force analyzed strategies for promoting jury participation in the civil...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Plain English Jury Instructions
Jury instructions are one of the most important, yet most overlooked, parts of a trial. Consider how jury instructions are presented for a moment. The only impartial participant in the trial process,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Internet Reserach by Jurors
Here is a link to a very interesting case out of South Dakota in which a defense verdict in a wrongful death case was vacated because of juror misconduct involving internet reserach. I invite you to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Laugh Break - Real Life Stories of a Juror
I’m posting something a little different today. The material on this blog is normally related to legal or DRI matters, but its Friday and everyone needs a break. The following is one person’s recount...
View ArticleClik here to view.
When Jurors Don’t Follow Instructions: Tweeting, Texting, Googling Not Allowed
The judicial system will be busy creating new law concerning the phenomenon of jurors texting, tweeting and googling while serving on the jury. Creating new jury instructions is the easy part....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Juror Questions: A Trend Not To Be Ignored
I recently read an article that discussed a growing trend in jury trials: allowing jurors to ask questions of witnesses. The article indicates that allowing jurors to ask questions of witnesses while...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Facebook update becomes issue for juror
Technology has created a new avenue for identifying potential juror misconduct. I read a recent article about a juror who commented on Facebook that it was going to be fun to tell the defendant he was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DRI to Examine the Vanishing Civil Trial
The vanishing jury trial is perhaps one of the most important issues facing the civil justice system today. Civil trials have declined in federal courts from 12% in 1984 to less than 1% in 2010....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Less Jury Trials Impact Many; Florida Study
If you spend some time looking at the statistics, you will see the number of jury trials is swiftly declining. Many states and organizations have recognized the decline, voicing concerns about the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Courts and Social Media
A year ago we published an article in The Whisper titled Please Jurors, Check Your iPhone With The Bailiff (Vol. 7, Issue 2.) The article discussed the increasingly frequent problem of jurors' use of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lawyers' Use of Internet To Influence Jurors
In an earlier article, we discussed the danger posed to an impartial jury system by the “Googling Juror.” In his article titled “Lawyers’ Use of Internet to Influence Jurors” (New York Law Journal,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Diversity and Voir Dire: Why Attorneys Should Use Diversity to Relate to Jurors
IntroductionCases can be won and lost on voir dire. Success in jury selection relies on an attorney's interpersonal skills, mainly an attorney's ability to stand in front of a group of strangers and...
View Article
