Tried and True: Best Jury Trial Practices - A Guide for Lawyers, Judges, and Court Administrators

JavaScript isn't enabled in your browser, so this file can't be opened. Enable and reload.

A collaboration between the American Society of Trial Consultants, the American Board of Trial Advocates, and the Trust in Justice Project.

"I consider that (trial by jury) as the only anchor, ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution." - Thomas Jefferson

Across the country, excellent judges, trial attorneys, and court administrators have implemented both innovative and practical methods to improve jury trials. Yet, there is little sharing of information about these outstanding practices. This project is designed to collect the best practices and resources that the legal profession, academics, researchers, and consultants have to offer, and provide a working resource guide for all of those who work in the jury trial system.

The ask is this. Please share your thoughts on best practices, tips, ideas, research, articles, links, and resources for the improvement of jury trials. Feel free to share this link to all those who you think could contribute.

This guide is designed to accomplish a number of different goals:

· To improve the ability of the courts to obtain a representative cross-section of the community in jury trials.

· To make jury trials more efficient and cost effective for litigants and jurors.

· To assist lawyers, judges, and court personnel in better understanding jury decision making.

· To assist lawyers and judges in jury selection practices to obtain fairer and more impartial juries.

· To assist lawyers and judges to more clearly present evidence, arguments, and guiding legal principles to jurors.

· To provide a more juror-centric trial experience to increase juror participation, comprehension, and satisfaction.

· To provide an ongoing, updated resource guide of best practices being used in various jurisdictions around the country.

· To provide research and practical guidance for the courts and attorneys in conducting effective jury trials.

· To provide greater jury trial consistency and predictability for litigants and attorneys.

· To improve the jury trial experience of jurors, attorneys, judges, and court personnel.

· To encourage and reward citizen participation in jury trials.

Each question is intended to be broad. Please feel free to share any thoughts you have related to the questions, or direct us to any resources you've found informative on these subjects.

In your experience, what have court administrators done to try and obtain a more diverse and representative cross section of the community for the jury pool?

Do you have any suggestions for ways the courts can make juries more diverse and representative?

In your experience, what jury selection practices have you seen judges and attorneys do to improve the quality of information that the parties use to select a more fair and impartial jury?

Do you have any suggestions for ways the courts can make juries more fair and impartial?

In your experience, what trial presentation practices have judges and lawyers done to improve the clarity and quality of the information presented in trial that jurors use to arrive at a meaningful verdict?

Do you have any suggestions for ways the courts can help juries understand trial information and the relevant law?

Is there anything else you'd like to share with us about ways you would like to see the court system improve?

Would you like to be provided with the results of this survey? If so, please leave your email below and we will be sure to send you a copy of any final reports produced based on this survey.

Submit

Clear form

Never submit passwords through Google Forms.

This content is neither created nor endorsed by Google. - Terms of Service - Privacy Policy

Does this form look suspicious? Report

Forms