Jury Selection: Picking YOUR People

https://youtube.com/shorts/TC-mU6ZVyYU?si=Bmf_SPU0_hpqPSSb

Reams of paper have been devoted to the topic of jury selection and voir dire. Books written. Bytes consumed. Training videos produced.

Much of the content focuses on finding the right kinds of jurors for your CASE.

And that is important. People definitely have viewpoints, biases, and experiences that can impact how they view evidence and your client. To the extent that you can ferret out that information and how it might affect your client and your case, you should do so.

Mock trials, jury surveys, polls, analytics etc are all useful tools in determining what the best kinds of jurors would look like for your kind of case with your facts and your client.

But now I want to talk about a different aspect of jury selection: what kinds of jurors are best for YOU? (For more content on this, follow the YouTube link at the top of this article).

There are many theories out there about the best categories of jurors that are as varied as there are number of lawyers. The best trial lawyer I’ve ever known – a fellow federal prosecutor in my U.S. Attorney’s Office for many years – swore up and down that he never wanted to see a housewife on one of his juries. It was a theory. I can’t remember why he held that view, but he was ultra successful, so whatever the reason, it worked.

So … the takeaway is that housewives are bad jurors for federal prosecutors?

NO!

I LOVED having homemakers on my juries. Barring some other disqualifying feature, I endeavored to keep every one of them I could. Now I’m not bragging, but that was always successful for ME.

Why the difference? Well, we all know this intrinsically, but we just … connect … with certain kinds of people more than others. There are certain people I would describe as MY kind of people. Not that I dislike those who aren’t, but you just know.

My wife was a SAHM. As a result, I understood the challenges, difficulties, joys, and emotions that came with it.

Who are my other kinds of “people?” Blue collar workers (I’m from NE Ohio originally). Former athletes (I was a college athlete and coach). Military and law enforcement (My dad, wife, and I are all vets, and I’ve worked with law enforcement my whole professional life). Et. al.

That connection plays out during trial. The examples and analogies you use. The stories you tell. Those things that make you the most authentic – and therefore, the most persuasive.

So while you spend time and money fleshing out the best jurors for your CASE, spend some introspective time deciding who the best jurors are for YOU.

As Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle urged, “Know thyself.”