Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips

Dr. Bryan Edelman published an article in The Jury Expert: http://www.thejuryexpert.com/ titled “The impact of graphic injury photographs on liability verdicts and non-economic damage awards.” The issue of photographs and other exhibits often comes up when a defendant objects that the exhibits are” inflammatory and prejudicial.” FRE 403 says: “Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of…

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I have taught at the Spence Trial College and written in this blog about the approach Gerry Spence advocates in jury selection. https://plaintifftriallawyertips.com/gerry-spence-voir-dire-questions  It can be roughly summarized as focused on building rapport through open, nonjudgmental discussion. It is not closed ended questions intended to dictate ideas. They focus on how the juror feels about subjects after he has first shared how he feels. Here is an example from Spence’s last civil case in Iowa: Now let me ask you…

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My friend Eric Fong is scheduled to start a major damage jury case in Seattle and we discussed jury selection ideas. That made me think I should post something in general about this subject. PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS Have one sheet of paper with topics you want to cover – simple topics headings with large enough type you can glance at  it and read it. Organize the topics by order of importance.   Let someone else take notes. Maintain eye contact with the…

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