Will the Election Effect Jury Selection?
Transcription
Sari de la Motte here, I specialize in helping attorneys communicate with jurors. Today is our first official vlog; a video that we're going to be sending you every couple of weeks to talk about specific issues that you may encounter at trial.
This morning, we had our first Sari Is Now In Session. You can still get in on that. It's a monthly series. $99 a month gets you started. It does increase later. We'll get you into the series where you can ask any question you want to ask about your upcoming trials, and I give you some advice.
Something came up in this morning's Sari Is Now In Session. The question that was asked was: how do I think the current election will affect the jury selection process? The obvious fear is, for plaintiff attorneys, that it will now be okay for our very conservative Trump supporting jurors to be openly homophobic, racist, etc. Basically all of the things that were hidden before. How do we deal with that as a trial attorney?
A couple of thoughts. First: I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing. I think the unveiling of this subgroup, which I don't by any means, think covers all Trump supporters, I'm talking about those ones that have kind of been hidden, it's actually a good thing for trial attorneys. In that, because Trump has made it more acceptable to say these types of things in public, we'll actually find out more about our jurors than we maybe would have before. More information than less is actually a good thing, so I don't think the fact that this rhetoric is now becoming more acceptable is a problem, . Do I think it's a problem in society? Yes, but for you trial attorneys, I don't think it's an issue.
The question then becomes, how do you deal with that? That brings us to group dynamics. It really depends on what the group thinks about what that one particular Trump supporter is saying, not what you think. If you really want to get good at group dynamics, you have to understand that it is never your group, it's the group's group. When we're looking at a situation where we have a very right leaning Trump supporting juror spouting off all kinds of nasty things, we have to look at the jury to decide what to do. For example, the jurors may roll their eyes and turn away from that person, they may hold their breath, or use stiff and rigid body language. These are all indicators that they want you to shut that person down. Therefore, go ahead and do it. You have permission from the jury.
The question then becomes, what if the entire panel is a right leaning Trump supporting group that's holding all of these horrible, in our opinion, views? How do you deal with that? My answer to that might surprise you. That would be a gift. One of the things we're trying to do in jury selection is to form the group. If you can get the group talking about their shared values, even if you personally don't hold those values, what you're doing, or what you're really allowing the content to do, is to form your group. And that makes your job easier.
Once you allow the content to form the group, you have to find a common ground that joins your cause with their value system. For example, we know in this particular election one of the things that half the voting population was really fed up with was status quo. They didn't want more of the same. How, as plaintiff attorneys, can you use that in your cases? That's easy. Many of our cases are all about railing against corporations, the status quo, the people that think they can get away with anything. Tap into that with your formed group and leave your political leanings or convictions aside and you will have success even in this post-election era in trial.
This morning, we had our first Sari Is Now In Session. You can still get in on that. It's a monthly series. $99 a month gets you started. It does increase later. We'll get you into the series where you can ask any question you want to ask about your upcoming trials, and I give you some advice.
Something came up in this morning's Sari Is Now In Session. The question that was asked was: how do I think the current election will affect the jury selection process? The obvious fear is, for plaintiff attorneys, that it will now be okay for our very conservative Trump supporting jurors to be openly homophobic, racist, etc. Basically all of the things that were hidden before. How do we deal with that as a trial attorney?
A couple of thoughts. First: I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing. I think the unveiling of this subgroup, which I don't by any means, think covers all Trump supporters, I'm talking about those ones that have kind of been hidden, it's actually a good thing for trial attorneys. In that, because Trump has made it more acceptable to say these types of things in public, we'll actually find out more about our jurors than we maybe would have before. More information than less is actually a good thing, so I don't think the fact that this rhetoric is now becoming more acceptable is a problem, . Do I think it's a problem in society? Yes, but for you trial attorneys, I don't think it's an issue.
The question then becomes, how do you deal with that? That brings us to group dynamics. It really depends on what the group thinks about what that one particular Trump supporter is saying, not what you think. If you really want to get good at group dynamics, you have to understand that it is never your group, it's the group's group. When we're looking at a situation where we have a very right leaning Trump supporting juror spouting off all kinds of nasty things, we have to look at the jury to decide what to do. For example, the jurors may roll their eyes and turn away from that person, they may hold their breath, or use stiff and rigid body language. These are all indicators that they want you to shut that person down. Therefore, go ahead and do it. You have permission from the jury.
The question then becomes, what if the entire panel is a right leaning Trump supporting group that's holding all of these horrible, in our opinion, views? How do you deal with that? My answer to that might surprise you. That would be a gift. One of the things we're trying to do in jury selection is to form the group. If you can get the group talking about their shared values, even if you personally don't hold those values, what you're doing, or what you're really allowing the content to do, is to form your group. And that makes your job easier.
Once you allow the content to form the group, you have to find a common ground that joins your cause with their value system. For example, we know in this particular election one of the things that half the voting population was really fed up with was status quo. They didn't want more of the same. How, as plaintiff attorneys, can you use that in your cases? That's easy. Many of our cases are all about railing against corporations, the status quo, the people that think they can get away with anything. Tap into that with your formed group and leave your political leanings or convictions aside and you will have success even in this post-election era in trial.