In modern times at least, corporations have not been terribly popular. However, since the murder of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO about a half a year ago in New York City, observers and the corporations themselves have been paying...more
I’m old enough to feel okay claiming full “curmudgeon” status when it comes to A.I. as a writing tool. I know some will say that puts me behind the times, and others will say that I’m missing out on opportunities. But the...more
6/30/2025
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Young Lawyers
Cause challenges play an important role in jury selection. When a potential juror has an acknowledged barrier to basing their decision on a neutral understanding of the evidence and the law, they should not serve. However,...more
Will the individuals who serve on your jury be the same people they were before they were called for service and selected? Will they have the same mental habits and preferences they exhibit in their civilian lives outside the...more
America’s civil litigation system can sometimes look a little like class warfare. On one side — often, but not always the defense — there will be an organization and a group of individuals who enjoy substantially more wealth...more
Early on in the jury selection process, the judge will often ask the panel, “We all know that jury duty can be inconvenient, but who believes they would experience an unreasonable hardship by serving in this case?” Hands will...more
In Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol,” the final act is brought by the spectral Ghost of Christmas Future who shows the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge the vision of those he mistreated in life celebrating his death after...more
It has become more commonplace to hear talk about a future of litigation without peremptory strikes. After all, Arizona in 2022 was the first state to eliminate strikes in all cases, and it may not be the last. California and...more
By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: The distinction between what is fact and what is opinion is arguably one of the most fundamental distinctions in law. But in practice, it is actually a lawyer’s distinction. In the real world, and in...more
I suspect there has never been any great love affair between attorneys in general and the jury pool. Jurors know that lawyers are there to influence them toward a desired result, and that’s typically met with suspicion....more
It’s one of the central contradictions of the law: we ask for and expect neutral and unbiased decision makers…and then we end up using humans. Those human fact-finders are almost inevitably going to have an individual form...more
Whenever we step up to evaluate a person as a potential juror, it can be an occupational hazard to simplify that person too much. We do our best with the time and information available, and to be sure, jury selection would be...more
Many of us probably watched or heard about the drama this past week in the Women’s Olympic Figure Skating event. Kamila Valieva — just 15-years-old, but with a dominant combination of quad-jumps and world class performance...more
Recognizing and reducing bias is obviously essential in a litigation context. But when it comes to “de-biasing,” it helps to see instructions as one tool in the toolbox, but not a tool that’s guaranteed to fix everything. In...more
This past Friday, eight people died at a music festival in Houston, crushed by a crowd as the music continued and security was unable to help. As the tragedy moves toward litigation, it is likely that this will be another...more
How likely is it that a corporation’s competitor could come up with a parallel product without infringing a patent? How common is it for someone to get injured on an amusement park ride? How normal would it be for someone who...more
In the case of Kyle Rittenhouse, the individual on trial for killing two men and wounding a third at a Kenosha, Wisconsin protest in August 2020, the judge has set some terms on language. According to press reports, the judge...more
As you’re waiting your turn for voir dire, you notice that plaintiff’s counsel is getting a fair number of potential jurors to admit that they might have a bias — against lawsuits, against plaintiffs’ attorneys, against...more
After receiving many warnings from the court and counsel on what they’re about to see, the jurors are finally shown the injury photos. Some of them frown, one covers her face, many look away after a quick glance, and a couple...more
At the voir dire stage of a jury trial, the word “bias” gets used a lot. But do we really know what it means? The courts, in practice at least, hew to a simple meaning: If a potential juror admits to bias, that means they...more
Traditionally, we might think about what happens in the jury room as a kind of “Black box,” an unknown process with jurors keeping their secrets on how they got to their verdicts. In practice, however, we know a fair amount...more
In my last post, I wrote about how the state of Arizona has been a leader in testing options for online trials. That same day, however, Arizona became the first state to eliminate peremptory strikes in criminal and civil...more
Potential jurors arrive at the courtroom with misinformation that might bear on your case. They could have opinions on scientific validity and reliability that will conflict with what your experts will tell them. They might...more
At the start of the case, a trial judge somberly addressed the jury, letting them know what adjustments were expected of them. The instructions told them they, “must as jurors, take all the decisions you have made, all the...more
As we enter Pride Month, it’s a good time to reflect on where we are. President Biden recently announced a renewed push for full legal equality for LGBTQ individuals, but that takes place against a background of continuing...more