Jeffrey T. Frederick, Ph.D., Director of Jury Research Services for NLRG, consults with attorneys on jury selection, venue, case preparation, and trial presentation issues.  He is a frequent speaker across the nation, and has written many resources and publications listed here.

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Mastering Voir Dire and Jury Selection: Gain an Edge in Questioning and Selecting Your Jury, 3rd Edition

Improve your effectiveness and gain an advantage in jury selection.

This much anticipated and expanded 3rd edition by one of the nation's most experienced trial consultants goes beyond other books on jury selection and focuses on the skills needed to conduct effective voir dire and jury selection, ultimately improving your chances of a favorable verdict at trial. This valuable guide will help you understand effective voir dire and jury selection strategies and adapt them to the unique circumstances you face in your trial jurisdiction.

You will find expanded discussions of developing voir dire questions, good questioning techniques and skills, reading jurors’ nonverbal behavior, successfully overcoming common problems encountered during voir dire, the use of juror questionnaires, the impact of the Internet on jury selection and jury trials, and overall jury selection strategies.  The appendices containing samples of important voir dire questions in criminal and civil cases are expanded. 

Topics covered include:

• Understanding the importance of the jurors’ backgrounds, experiences, and opinions
• Developing voir dire questions
• Good questioning techniques and skills that increase juror candor and honesty
• Reading jurors' nonverbal behavior
• Tips for improving your success in group voir dire settings
• Successfully overcoming common problems encountered during voir dire, including identifying and handling stealth jurors
• How to develop and use juror questionnaires effectively
• The impact of the Internet on jury selection and jury trials
• Overall jury selection strategies

This book is packed with practical advice and supplemented with appendices, including examples of useful voir dire questions for civil and criminal cases. In addition, a companion CD contains more than 130 juror questionnaires used in criminal and civil trials. These questionnaires come from such criminal trials as Colorado v. Kobe Bryant (sexual assault), California v. Scott Peterson (murder), California v. O.J. Simpson (murder), Nevada v. O.J. Simpson (armed robbery and kidnapping), Connecticut v. Michael Skakel (murder), United States v. Arthur Andersen (obstruction of justice—Enron scandal), United States v. Richard Causey, Jeffrey Skilling & Kenneth Lay (Enron securities fraud), United States v. Timothy McVeigh (domestic terrorism—Oklahoma City bombing), United States v. Zacarious Moussaoui (terrorism), and United States v. Theodore Stevens (public corruption), among others, and from civil trials including In re Exxon Valdez (Valdez oil spill), Doe v. Nash (wrongful termination—AIDS), In re Visa Check/Mastermoney Antitrust Litigation (antitrust), International Paper Co. v. Affiliate FM Insurance Cos. (bad faith), i4i LP v. Microsoft Corporation (intellectual property), Mildred Valentine v. Dow Corning Corporation et al. (product liability—breast implant), and Romo v. Ford Motor Company (products liability), among others. Each juror questionnaire on the CD-Rom is linked to the table of contents for easy reference and accessibility.

Read the review in The Brief, Vol 41, No 1, Fall 2011. 

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The Psychology of the American Jury (Michie Co., 1987)

Learn the techniques the experts use - and WHY they use them.

The Psychology of the American Jury discusses the tough issues you face in jury trials and offers practical solutions. Among the issues discussed are the use of surveys in jury selection and change of venue motions, in-court approaches to jury selection, nonverbal behavior of jurors, and voir dire procedures. It contains a comprehensive treatment of persuasion in the courtroom and a general review of psychological research on juries. Research techniques designed to help pretest cases before trial, e.g., focus groups and trial simulations, are considered along with trial techniques, i.e., trial observation and shadow juries, designed to assess how the actual trial is evolving in the eyes of jurors.

(no longer in publication)         

The following White Papers are available:

The Seven Deadly Sins of Group Voir Dire (and How to Avoid Them)

Voir dire often makes or breaks lawyers’ efforts to identify potential juror bias.  This article considers the seven major pitfalls or "sins" in group questioning that can reduce lawyers' effectiveness and offers strategies to avoid them...

You, the Jury, and the Internet

The increasingly prominent role the Internet plays in American society poses a potential threat to the integrity of jury trials from the influence of outside information, both before and during trials...

The Jury Research Services Division of the National Legal Research Group publishes Jury Research Update. This newsletter provides our clients with useful information to help them try cases before juries.

The following are sample issues of Jury Research Update. These issues should not be reprinted without the written permission of Dr. Jeffrey Frederick

Making Better Witnesses—The LOFT Model (1999)

Themes: A Key to Persuading Jurors (1999)

Taking a "Snapshot" of How Jurors View Your Case (1998)

Gaining an Edge in Jury Trials (1998)

Effective Jury Selection: It's Not Only What Potential Jurors Say, But It's How They Say It (1996)

Exercising Peremptory Challenges in Light of J.E.B. (1994)

Getting the Most Out of Jury Questionnaires (1993)

Using Juror Surveys in Trial Preparation (1993)

Persuasion at Trial Series:

Persuasion at Trial: Opening Statements (1990)

Persuasion at Trial: Direct Examination (1990)

Persuasion at Trial: Cross-examination (1992)

Persuasion at Trial: Nontestimonial Evidence (1992)

Persuasion at Trial: Closing Arguments (1992)