Michael Sullivan Writes Article for Bender's California Labor & Employment Bulletin on Jury Selection
Michael Sullivan, a partner in the firm’s Labor & Employment Practice Group, wrote an article for Bender's California Labor & Employment on the jury selection process. Using his last trial as an example, he noted that while jury selection is one of the most important phases of a trial, sometimes there is little strategy involved in the process and peremptory challenges can be straightforward.
Sullivan writes that his most recent trial involved age discrimination and Sullivan used his peremptory challenges of potential jurors because they mentioned that they could not be impartial based on bias. The article highlights that had these three potentially landed on the jury panel, he would have used a jury expert.
Below is an excerpt:
Jury selection is one of the most important phases of any trial - at least, that's what I've always been told. Based on my experience, this is certainly true much of the time. On other occasions, however, there is precious little strategy involved. Indeed, the decisions seem obvious.
My last trial, an age discrimination case, was a classic example of the lack of any real strategy in making jury selections. The case was pending in federal court and each side had three peremptory challenges to use in establishing the eight-person jury. I had considered using a jury consultant to assist us in selecting the jury panel but had decided not to do so. While jury experts can be very useful, this panel required all the strategy of a vigorously contested game of tic-tac-toe.
…
Now, perhaps these decisions could have been more difficult. My jury might also have included the founder of the AARP, former whistleblowers from Enron, or the plaintiff's Aunt Wilma. However, even if this had been the case, I'm reasonably confident that my decisions regarding the use of these peremptory challenges would have remained the same. However, if any of those individuals had been on the panel, I might have needed a jury expert to decide.