It has become more commonplace to hear talk about a future of litigation without peremptory strikes. After all, Arizona in 2022 was the first state to eliminate strikes in all cases, and it may not be the last. California and...more
The trial court improperly retained jurisdiction of a CEQA challenge after the City of San Diego filed a return to the peremptory writ of mandate confirming that it had rescinded the project approvals and thereby satisfied...more
The holding in Batson v. Kentucky, 479 U.S. 79 (1986), that racial discrimination has no place in jury selection, continues to generate caselaw. As noted in a prior blog post, the Supreme Court of North Carolina had never...more
On August 30, 2021, the Arizona Supreme Court instituted a landmark rule change that made Arizona the first state in the country to abolish the use of peremptory challenges in criminal and civil trials. Challenges to...more
In May et al v. Succession of Mayo Romero et al a Louisiana court of appeal denied the plaintiff’s efforts to suspend the running of liberative prescription in the face of peremptory exceptions. The discovery rule is one...more
Jury selection in California is undergoing significant change. In August 2020, the California legislature passed AB 3070, which was signed by Governor Gavin Newsome on September 30. Beginning in 2022, objections to peremptory...more
We tend to think of “bias” as it applies to juries, but courts can have their own deep-seated practices. For example, judges will often prefer voir dire questions that focus on the juror’s own assessment of the influence of a...more
The Florida Supreme Court recently reminded us of an adage of trial practice: Do not depend on a perceived mistake by the trial court to preserve an issue for appeal. A lawyer must fulfill his or her obligation to spell out...more
Okay, my title is purposefully provocative, but it is not an exaggeration. Based on a recently released, first-of-its-kind, comprehensive study on the effectiveness of voir dire following common practices in civil trials...more
Practicing law at a socially appropriate distance has forced many litigators to broadly consider the value of face-to-face interaction—and what may be lost in its absence. A recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court opinion...more
The Supreme Court of the United States issued four decisions this morning: North Carolina Dept. of Revenue v. Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust, No. 18-457: North Carolina law imposes a tax on any trust income...more
On June 21, 2019, the United States Supreme Court decided Flowers v. Mississippi, No. 17-9572, holding that the state court committed clear error in concluding that the state’s peremptory strike of a black prospective juror...more
The trial consulting field seems to fly mostly under the radar. As a part of the attorney’s confidential work product, our role in conducting research, preparing witnesses, and helping to advise on jury selection is not...more
Let’s say you want to know something from your prospective juror: “Do you tend to think that corporations are basically dishonest, or not?” You get a chance to talk to them in court during oral voir dire, or even better, you...more
Thanks to Batson and associated cases, we now have an uneasy working rule on voir dire in U.S. courtrooms: In exercising peremptory strikes, you can pick and choose on any basis…other than discriminatory ones. Basing strikes...more
In United States v. Altareb, 17-1717, the Second Circuit (Sack, Parker, Chin) issued a summary order affirming a conviction for, inter alia, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and bulk cash smuggling. ...more
How do you spot a racist? Or, to be more on point, in a legal case about racial discrimination, or another case where racial biases would matter to the assessment of the case, the parties, or the witnesses, how do you...more
It is unacceptable for someone to be the wrong color or the wrong ethnicity to serve on a jury. In modern times, the law says race-based exclusions can’t happen. But the practical reality in the courtroom, particularly some...more
On May 23, 2016, the United States Supreme Court decided Foster v. Chatman, No. 14-8349, holding that it was clearly erroneous for a state habeas court to decide that a criminal defendant failed to show purposeful...more
Preserving error during voir dire can be tricky. In jurisdictions like Florida, certain steps must be taken to preserve objections, including those related to pretextual peremptory challenges. On March 18, Florida’s...more
On March 18, Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal issued a decision discussing, in some detail, the actions that must be taken during jury selection to preserve an objection to a peremptory challenge that purportedly is...more