January 17, 2020
Jeffrey T. Frederick, Ph.D.
News: “Oops!... I Did It Again”*: Dr. Frederick Comments on Using Big Data in Harvey Weinstein Jury Selection in New York Times Article
There have been many changes in how we approach jury selection (and case preparation) over the past decade. One change is the use of social media and big data in jury selection which I briefly discuss in an article on the jury selection for the Harvey Weinstein case appearing in the New York Times.
From the New York Times . . .
Harvey Weinstein Jury Selection: Bias, Big Data and 'Likes'
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Topics:
jury research,
group voir dire,
jury selection,
Jeffrey T. Frederick,
voir dire,
trial consultant,
questioning jurors,
juror candor,
looking good bias,
juror,
jury,
improving voir dire,
mastering voir dire,
juries,
majority response questions,
mastering group voir dire
January 9, 2020
Jeffrey T. Frederick, Ph.D.
News: Dr. Frederick Comments on the Harvey Weinstein Jury Selection in New York Times Article
I hope that everyone has had a good holiday season and looks forward to a busy and prosperous 2020! While not exactly the cover of Rolling Stone, you can see my creative use of “Whoa” (a scientific term) in an article on the jury selection for the Harvey Weinstein case appearing in the New York Times.
From the New York Times . . .
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Topics:
jury research,
group voir dire,
jury selection,
Jeffrey T. Frederick,
voir dire,
trial consultant,
questioning jurors,
juror candor,
looking good bias,
juror,
jury,
improving voir dire,
mastering voir dire,
juries,
majority response questions,
mastering group voir dire
November 26, 2019
Jeffrey T. Frederick, Ph.D.
Dr. Frederick’s ABA Books on Jury Selection Part of 40% Off Cyber Monday Sale
Cyber Monday Sale – 40% Off + Free Shipping
Shop and save one day only with promo code CYBER19 on books, eBooks, and on-demand CLE products.
Cyber Monday - December 2nd
If you are interested in my books, it is easy to follow the following links below. BE SURE TO USE THE PROMO CODE “CYBER19” ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 2ND , TO RECEIVE THE 40% DISCOUNT.
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Topics:
jury research,
group voir dire,
jury selection,
Jeffrey T. Frederick,
voir dire,
trial consultant,
questioning jurors,
juror candor,
looking good bias,
juror,
jury,
improving voir dire,
mastering voir dire,
juries,
majority response questions,
mastering group voir dire
November 12, 2019
Jeffrey T. Frederick, Ph.D.
News: ABA Journal’s Modern Law Library Features Dr. Frederick Discussing Voir Dire and Jury Selection
Dr. Frederick discusses the four major goals of voir dire and jury selection and offers a number of practical tips that will help attorneys be more effective in the voir dire and jury selection process in a recent podcast from ABA Journal’s Modern Law Library. Numerous tips are presented in several critical areas, including understanding the nonverbal communication of jurors (both visual and auditory cues), how to phrase questions to get the information you want, and how to conduct voir dire questioning in ways that maximizes juror participation, honesty, and candor, among other topics.
From Modern Law Library . . .
The jury selection process can be one of the most challenging aspects of jury trial, and it is often the least-known trial lawyer skill. During this important process, trial lawyers should focus on identifying potential jurors who harbor some bias or have beliefs that would make them less beneficial than others.
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Topics:
jury research,
group voir dire,
jury selection,
Jeffrey T. Frederick,
voir dire,
trial consultant,
questioning jurors,
juror candor,
looking good bias,
juror,
jury,
improving voir dire,
mastering voir dire,
juries,
majority response questions,
mastering group voir dire
September 27, 2019
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Topics:
jury research,
group voir dire,
jury selection,
Jeffrey T. Frederick,
voir dire,
trial consultant,
questioning jurors,
juror candor,
looking good bias,
juror,
jury,
improving voir dire,
mastering voir dire,
juries,
majority response questions,
mastering group voir dire
June 12, 2019
Jeffrey T. Frederick, PhD
Using Social Media News Posts in Jury Selection (and More)
It is becoming fairly commonplace for trial consultants, attorneys, and other entities to search for potential jurors’ social media presence. However, limiting internet investigations of potential jurors to traditional “Google searches,” Westlaw or similar databases, and searches of social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, among others, misses an underutilized, but important resource—news media postings on social media. Whether your case is criminal or civil, monitoring and storing relevant posts in their entirety is a must. This applies to both highly publicized and the not-so-highly publicized case. (Those in the latter category—hang tough. We will get there.)
Some Basics About News Media Posting on Social Media
We will consider primarily news media Facebook posts as they tend to be more informative and the usernames are more easily matched to potential jurors. However, some limited information can be derived from tweets (e.g., opinions/comments), if the potential juror’s twitter username is known. When a news source posts to its Facebook page, there are several types of information potentially available. First, there are the “reactions” to the post itself (Facebook currently offers five “reactions,” i.e., like, love, wow, angry, sad, and haha/laughing). Second, there are “shares” of the post to other Facebook users with those users having the opportunity to comment/reply and register a reaction. Third, there are the comments and replies to comments associated with the post. Finally, readers can register their reactions to both the comments and replies. Consider the following example involving a recent post on The Virginian-Pilot Facebook page regarding the filing of a lawsuit over the death of an inmate.
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Topics:
jury research,
group voir dire,
jury selection,
Jeffrey T. Frederick,
voir dire,
trial consultant,
questioning jurors,
juror candor,
looking good bias,
juror,
jury,
improving voir dire,
mastering voir dire,
juries,
majority response questions,
mastering group voir dire
February 19, 2019
Jeffrey T. Frederick, Ph.D.
Mastering Group Voir Dire: Tip 10—Don’t Let Jurors Hide
So far, our Tips series has focused on setting the stage for effective voir dire (Tip 1; Tip 2; and Tip 3), capitalizing on open-ended questions to increase our understanding of jurors (Tip 4), avoiding the “looking good” bias (Tip 5), crafting questions with the “bad” answer in mind (Tip 6), using questions that contrast viewpoints or positions (Tip 7), the need to intersperse majority response questions to foster continued participation (Tip 8), and using the springboard method to encourage participation (Tip 9). Our next tip addresses the silent or “hiding” juror who seeks to avoid participation during voir dire. (Click here to see a short video for this tip.)
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Topics:
jury research,
group voir dire,
jury selection,
Jeffrey T. Frederick,
voir dire,
trial consultant,
questioning jurors,
juror candor,
looking good bias,
juror,
jury,
improving voir dire,
mastering voir dire,
juries,
majority response questions,
mastering group voir dire
December 11, 2018
Jeffrey T. Frederick, Ph.D.
Mastering Group Voir Dire: Tip 9—Employ the Springboard Method
So far, our Tips series has focused on setting the stage for effective voir dire (Tip 1; Tip 2; and Tip 3), capitalizing on open-ended questions to increase our understanding of jurors (Tip 4), avoiding the “looking good” bias (Tip 5), crafting questions with the “bad” answer in mind (Tip 6), using questions that contrast viewpoints or positions (Tip 7), and the need to intersperse majority response questions to foster continued participation (Tip 8). Our next tip addresses the springboard method of questioning that enhances juror participation during voir dire. (Click here to see a short video for this tip.)
Fostering Participation
As I have stressed throughout this series, we need to employ approaches and methods that maximize juror participation and candor during the voir dire process. We started questioning by employing the initial background summary in Tip 2 and employed the initial hand-raising technique in Tip 3 to encourage participation at the beginning of voir dire. Our focus on participation shifted in Tip 8 to the inclusion of majority response questions to counteract nonparticipation tendencies inherent in traditional voir dire questioning. There is a potentially more effective method to maintain and increase participation—the springboard method.
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Topics:
jury research,
group voir dire,
jury selection,
Jeffrey T. Frederick,
voir dire,
trial consultant,
questioning jurors,
juror candor,
looking good bias,
juror,
jury,
improving voir dire,
mastering voir dire,
juries,
majority response questions,
mastering group voir dire
November 21, 2018
Jeffrey T. Frederick, Ph.D.
Dr. Frederick’s ABA Books on Jury Selection Part of 40% Off Cyber Monday Sale
Cyber Monday Sale – 40% Off + Free Shipping
Shop and save one day only with promo code CYBER18 on books, eBooks, and on-demand CLE products.
Cyber Monday - November 26
Available at: https://www.americanbar.org/products/publishing/cybermonday2018/
If you need any assistance purchasing a product, please call the Service Center at (800) 285-2221.
ALSO, DON’T FORGET: Dr. Frederick will be presenting a free 60-minute program based on his book, “Mastering Voir Dire and Jury Selection: Gain an Edge in Questioning and Selecting Your Jury,” for the ABA Solo Small Firm and General Practice Division’s November 21, 2018, session of Hot Off the Press telephone conference/podcast at 1 p.m. EST. There is no registration or fee required. All you have to do is call the Dial-In Number and use the Conference ID listed below.
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Topics:
jury research,
group voir dire,
jury selection,
Jeffrey T. Frederick,
voir dire,
trial consultant,
questioning jurors,
juror candor,
looking good bias,
juror,
jury,
improving voir dire,
mastering voir dire,
juries,
majority response questions,
mastering group voir dire
“I read your '8 Tips for Group Voir Dire' and thought it was one the best trial technique articles I have read. I really enjoyed it and will use the ideas in teaching my law school class.” - Roy Black, Esquire Black, Srebnick, Kornspan & Stumpf, P.A.
November 14, 2018
Jeffrey T. Frederick, Ph.D.
Mastering Group Voir Dire: Tip 8—Intersperse Majority Response Questions
Associated Press 2012
So far, our Tips series has focused on setting the stage for effective voir dire (Tip 1; Tip 2; and Tip 3), capitalizing on open-ended questions to increase our understanding of jurors (Tip 4), avoiding the “looking good” bias (Tip 5), crafting questions with the “bad” answer in mind (Tip 6), and using questions that contrast viewpoints or positions (Tip 7). Our next tip addresses asking questions later in voir dire where the majority of jurors will raise their hands. (Click here to see a short video for this tip.)
The Declining Participation Trap
A major problem often encountered during group voir dire is the tendency for participation by jurors to decline as questioning continues. This decline in participation is a result of two major forces. First, the way voir dire is conducted and the type of questions often asked tend to seek minority responses. That is, we are interested in nontypical information, and, as a result, only a few, if any, jurors respond affirmatively to these questions. Consider the following:
“How many of you have had a negative experience with law enforcement?”
“How many of you have been a party to a lawsuit?”
These types of questions focus on a likely minority of jurors who have had certain experiences or hold certain beliefs. This situation is further exacerbated by phrases that unnecessarily promote expectations of nonparticipation (and, potentially, negative connotations). Such phrasing is illustrated in the following approaches:
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Topics:
jury research,
group voir dire,
jury selection,
Jeffrey T. Frederick,
voir dire,
trial consultant,
questioning jurors,
juror candor,
looking good bias,
juror,
jury,
improving voir dire,
mastering voir dire,
juries,
majority response questions,
mastering group voir dire
