Picking Justice

Non-Economic Damages: Spot the Jurors Who Won’t Award

Most jurors haven't decided how they feel about giving millions for pain and suffering until the trial's nearly over — so how do you spot the ones who never will? In this

Brett Schreiber – Two Cups and a Pitcher of Blame

Federal court voir dire is often "judicial speed dating" — sometimes just 25 minutes to question 55 strangers. Brett Schreiber of Singleton Schreiber pulled it off before

Mel Orchard — Get the Wrong Jurors to Out Themselves

Most trial lawyers walk into voir dire with a script and a checklist. Throw both out, says Mel Orchard of the Spence Law Firm in Wyoming, a member of the Inner Circle of

Kimball Jones – Voir Dire Lessons from a 9-Figure Verdict Run

Imagine trying a case with clear liability and catastrophic damages, with each day of evidence going your way — and still walking away with a defense verdict. That 2018 l

Bernard Alexander – The Beauty of Employment Litigation, from the Lawyer Who Won $136M Against Tesla

The way employment litigator Bernard Alexander sees it, the beauty of these cases is that most jurors are employees. At voir dire, the plaintiff’s lawyer’s job is to get

Jennifer Keller – Business Behaving Badly? Telling Jurors "It's a Company" Isn’t Enough

Some corporations may be “evil.” Others may be “heroes.” Good or bad, they’re made up of people. “Just saying ‘it's a company’ isn't enough. What company? What does the c

David deRubertis – How I Stopped Hating Jury Selection

David deRubertis, one of California's preeminent employment trial lawyers, once had a streak of consecutive trials resulting in eight-figure verdicts. And yet he hates ju

Samantha Teal – What I’ve Learned from Consulting on More Than 100 Trials

What a difference a month makes. Trial consultant Samantha Teal had not worked on a $14 million sexual assault verdict, $1 million employment verdict, $10 million employm

Daniel Rodriguez – This Farmworker's Son Seeds Million-Dollar Verdicts

Daniel Rodriguez is the child of migrant farm workers who settled in California’s agricultural heartland, where his law practice is based. So it makes sense that the meta

Dirk Vandever – The “Jeff Bezos” Approach to Winning Conservative Jurors

Dirk Vandever asks jurors to say it themselves: "I'm just as rich as Jeff Bezos." It's how he gets conservative jurors to see that a low-income client's quality of life i

Keith Mitnik – What Package Are You Delivering to Jurors?

“How many of you care if the Amazon guy that delivers your package struts up like a pretty peacock?” asks Keith Mitnik. “All you care about is what's inside the package.”

Keith Bruno – The Jurors Seem to Like You? Get Over It

If the juror’s laughing at your dumb jokes but their answers scream “danger zone!” – don’t bask in the laughter. Watch out for the danger. With 200 jury trials on his res

Jude Basile – Two Goals that Win Juries From the Start

When he stands up at voir dire, Jude Basile has two goals: to empower the jury and get them involved in the case. With results that include a $150 million wrongful death

Christian Morris – Getting into Jurors’ Minds, One Scenario at a Time

A woman browses in a knick-knack store that has a sign: “You Break It – You Buy It.” Sure enough, she accidentally breaks a figurine – and it has a $78 price tag! The wom

Jesse Wilson – Why Jurors Root for "I Can" Over "I Can't"

Everybody loves an underdog story - so why do lawyers often tell the opposite in the courtroom? Juilliard-trained actor and jury trial consultant Jesse Wilson developed a

Harry and Dan – Celebrating 12 Months of Helping You Pick 12 Jurors

"Voir dire is the scariest thing to do for a lawyer," Dan Kramer says as he reflects on the first year of “Picking Justice” with co-host Harry Plotkin. This special episo

Mike Alder – What I Learned about Jury Selection after 9 Trials in 10 Months

After completing nine trials earlier this year, Mike Alder describes lessons learned about jury selection with hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer. Tune in for his insight

Rahul Ravipudi – Pick One Voir Dire Philosophy and Commit

“You've gotten just tons of jurors off for cause, but you do it in the most polite way,” host Harry Plotkin says of longtime friend Rahul Ravipudi, who stops by “Picking

Kathleen Nastri – Mastering Connecticut's Unique Jury Selection

Picture your voir dire happening in a private room where it’s just you and the potential juror. It’s called “individual sequestered voir dire,” it’s guaranteed in Connect

Sean Claggett – From "Colorado Won't Give That" to “They Did” – $145 Million

“It is shocking how many times lawyers undervalue their cases,” says Sean Claggett, a pioneer in the use of big data and co-author of “JuryBall.” Coming off a $145 millio