Episodes

Federal court voir dire is often "judicial speed dating" — sometimes just 25 minutes to question 55 strangers. Brett Schreiber of Singleton Schreiber pulled it off before landing a landmark verdict against Tesla, and he joins hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer to unpack how he picks juries under brutal time pressure. Brett shares his "two cups and a pitcher of blame" framing for shared-responsibility cases, why he primes reluctant jurors to say "yes" before diving in, and why emotional intellige...

Most trial lawyers walk into voir dire with a script and a checklist. Throw both out, says Mel Orchard of the Spence Law Firm in Wyoming, a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates. He opens instead by asking jurors whether anything affected them on the way in that morning — then stays silent for a long time. Talking with hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer, Mel explains why preconditioning doesn't work, why he no longer lets the panel debate the case in real time, how a personal share draws the p...

Imagine trying a case with clear liability and catastrophic damages, with each day of evidence going your way — and still walking away with a defense verdict. That 2018 loss shaped Nevada trial lawyer Kimball Jones' voir dire philosophy and the verdict run that's followed: at least 12 seven-figure verdicts plus multiple eight- and nine-figure results since 2019. Kimball joins hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer to unpack his approach — starting with the passions question to build rapport, signali...

The way employment litigator Bernard Alexander sees it, the beauty of these cases is that most jurors are employees. At voir dire, the plaintiff’s lawyer’s job is to get jurors to slip into their client’s shoes. In this conversation with hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer, Bernard describes how he does that. His experience includes winning $136 million against Tesla in what was the largest single plaintiff harassment verdict in the U.S. at the time. “I get people talking,” he says. “But the peop...

Some corporations may be “evil.” Others may be “heroes.” Good or bad, they’re made up of people. “Just saying ‘it's a company’ isn't enough. What company? What does the company do? And who are the people in the company?,” says Jennifer Keller, speaking from her experience going up against and representing companies. She recommends finding out what kind of company you’re representing – like the upstart with a doll that competed against Mattel – and what your corporate client actually does – like ...

David deRubertis, one of California's preeminent employment trial lawyers, once had a streak of consecutive trials resulting in eight-figure verdicts. And yet he hates jury selection. How did he move past that? By embracing what comes naturally to him and how his mind works. In this conversation with hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer, David describes how he’s leveraged that lesson to persuade jurors to shift their focus in an employment case – where anger, not necessarily emotional distress, of...

What a difference a month makes. Trial consultant Samantha Teal had not worked on a $14 million sexual assault verdict, $1 million employment verdict, $10 million employment pregnancy discrimination verdict, and $307 million verdict in a prisoner neglect case when this episode was recorded. A month later, hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer play their conversation. With experience consulting on nearly 100 trials, Samantha unpacks lessons learned – including why the instinct to prejudge jurors by ...

Daniel Rodriguez is the child of migrant farm workers who settled in California’s agricultural heartland, where his law practice is based. So it makes sense that the metaphor he uses for his voir dire technique is “seeding.” With $122 million and $116 million verdicts under his belt, Daniel explains this and other strategies to hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer. Tune in for his insights about where clients should be in the courtroom (out of it) and what his biggest verdicts over the past five y...

Dirk Vandever asks jurors to say it themselves: "I'm just as rich as Jeff Bezos." It's how he gets conservative jurors to see that a low-income client's quality of life is worth just as much as anyone else's. A Kansas City trial lawyer with phenomenal verdicts in challenging venues, Dirk joins hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer to share what drives his success. Tune in for his secrets to framing equality-of-harm for vulnerable clients, asking jurors if they're skeptical before giving them reason...

“How many of you care if the Amazon guy that delivers your package struts up like a pretty peacock?” asks Keith Mitnik. “All you care about is what's inside the package.” Pretend you’re the Amazon guy, and jurors are expecting the package. Keith, the author of “Don’t Eat the Bruises,” the definitive book on jury selection, tells you how to deliver in this episode. Visiting with hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer, Keith reveals his voir dire techniques — some “hot off the presses.” Tune in for hi...

If the juror’s laughing at your dumb jokes but their answers scream “danger zone!” – don’t bask in the laughter. Watch out for the danger. With 200 jury trials on his resume, trial lawyer Keith Bruno breaks down the critical difference between being seduced by good vibes and focusing on your job: picking the best jurors. With hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer, he recalls an incident when he called out two jurors who were overheard in the bathroom giving opinions on the case. “It was uncomfortab...

When he stands up at voir dire, Jude Basile has two goals: to empower the jury and get them involved in the case. With results that include a $150 million wrongful death verdict, Jude reveals how he achieves both goals in this conversation with hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer. If this has ever happened to you – a juror asks if you’re “in it for the money” or a juror discloses a sensitive experience like the loss of a child – tune in for Jude’s strategies. And if you still call your client a “...

A woman browses in a knick-knack store that has a sign: “You Break It – You Buy It.” Sure enough, she accidentally breaks a figurine – and it has a $78 price tag! The woman protests: “That wasn't worth $78! And your shelf sticks out too much!" Christian Morris presented that scenario to jurors in a case where her client was injured in a low-property damage incident. Tune in to hear what Christian learned from juror reactions to the story. And stay tuned as shares her voir dire playbook with host...

Everybody loves an underdog story - so why do lawyers often tell the opposite in the courtroom? Juilliard-trained actor and jury trial consultant Jesse Wilson developed a “victim-to-victor” approach that capitalizes on the universal appeal of “I can” instead of “I can’t.” In this conversation with hosts Dan Kramer and Harry Plotkin, Jesse explains that jurors respond more powerfully when they see strength rather than just suffering. Tune in for his insights about treating yourself as "the most i...

"Voir dire is the scariest thing to do for a lawyer," Dan Kramer says as he reflects on the first year of “Picking Justice” with co-host Harry Plotkin. This special episode celebrates a year of exceptional guests: Ibiere Seck, Ricardo Echeverria, Steve Vartazarian, Gary Dordick, Claire Plotkin, Arash Homampou, Joe Fried, Bob Simon, Lourdes DeArmas, Khail Parris, David Ball, Randi McGinn, Craig Peters, Kurt Zaner, Pat Salvi, Sean Claggett, Kathleen Nastri, Rahul Ravipudi, and Mike Alder. Tune in ...

After completing nine trials earlier this year, Mike Alder describes lessons learned about jury selection with hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer. Tune in for his insights about how being practiced makes you conversational rather than aggressive, why he starts with easy questions before diving into hot-button issues, and how asking "I need your help" invites jurors to participate authentically in the selection process. Learn More and Connect ☑️ Mike Alder | LinkedIn | Email | Instagram | YouTu...

“You've gotten just tons of jurors off for cause, but you do it in the most polite way,” host Harry Plotkin says of longtime friend Rahul Ravipudi, who stops by “Picking Justice” to share his philosophy of voir dire that has helped him secure eight- and nine-figure verdicts. As Rahul explains to Harry and co-host Dan Kramer, his core philosophy is to stick with one voir dire approach. His is identifying juror biases and guiding biased jurors to excuse themselves for cause “or at least allow me t...

Picture your voir dire happening in a private room where it’s just you and the potential juror. It’s called “individual sequestered voir dire,” it’s guaranteed in Connecticut’s constitution, and it’s an approach that Kathleen Nastri has mastered – as evidenced by her $58 million med-mal verdict, a state record. It can be exhausting, she admits. It can be like speed dating. But it reflects the importance that the state places on the right to a trial with a fair jury. In this conversation with hos...

“It is shocking how many times lawyers undervalue their cases,” says Sean Claggett, a pioneer in the use of big data and co-author of “JuryBall.” Coming off a $145 million workers' compensation bad faith verdict in Colorado – where a mediator told him, “Colorado juries don’t give the type of verdicts you’re talking about” – Sean shares how he uses big data and focus groups to determine true case value. In this conversation with hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer, he explains why anchoring themes...

Everyone loves doctors. Pat Salvi’s firm sues them. When you know how to pick a good jury, he says, you can overcome the inherent likability factor. In this conversation with hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer, Pat reveals his strategies, starting with how he makes a connection with potential jurors. Tune in for his tips on exposing juror bias and focusing jurors on a doctor’s behavior, not personality. “It’s not about whether he's a good doctor or a nice guy,” he tells them. “It's whether or no...

In Colorado, Kurt Zaner typically has 15 to 30 minutes for voir dire, so he makes every minute count. In this conversation with hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer, he explains how. “Even though you’ve got 15 minutes, the big points for me: I want to build a little rapport. I want them to trust me. I want them to feel empowered,” he says. From memorizing juror names to building credibility before discussing damages, Kurt describes strategies that he’s leveraged to secure victories like his $16 mi...

As a public defender, Craig Peters focused his voir dire on getting jurors to assure him they’d follow the law. Turns out that jurors can promise they’ll follow the law; it doesn’t mean they will. Now one of California's leading plaintiffs' trial attorneys with multiple eight-figure verdicts, Craig joins hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer to share what he’s learned about jury selection from practicing on both sides. He advocates, for example, for the opportunity to voir dire the entire jury pane...

"Has anyone here suffered profound grief?" Randi McGinn began asking jurors that question, particularly in wrongful death cases, after she suffered a personal loss. “It made me realize that people who've experienced that would be wonderful jurors,” she tells hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer. As she explains, savvy plaintiffs’ lawyers should identify jurors who have experienced grief and who can share their experience with other jurors. The first female president of the Inner Circle of Advocate...

Twenty minutes to voir dire 35 jurors? “Hey, what’s your favorite ice cream? OK; I ran out of time.” That’s how host and jury consultant Harry Plotkin describes the challenging scenario – one of his favorite things to teach because “it can be done.” Host Dan Kramer, who soon goes to trial with Harry under these very rules, guides this discussion about how it can be done. Harry explains how he prioritizes individual questions over group questions to ensure that every juror is heard rather than fo...