Jury Selection in Employment Litigation: Preparing for Voir Dire, Identifying Bias, Leveraging Strikes

Mr. Fox has spent more than 25 years in boardrooms and courtrooms acting as a trusted advisor and litigation advocate for clients – from Fortune 500 corporations to entrepreneurs – in complicated and often high-profile business and employment disputes. His advice/counseling and trial practice is focused on complex business and employment litigation. In the area of labor and employment law, clients look to Mr. Fox for proactive and practical recommendations to avoid litigation. But, when disagreements or disputes end up in the courtroom or in arbitration, he is a vigorous advocate, successfully trying cases in a myriad of areas, including non-competition violations; trade secret theft; executive departures; wage and hour compliance and collective actions; corporate downsizing; leaves of absence (ADA and FMLA); sexual harassment investigations; and compliance with federal/state anti-discrimination and retaliation statutes. Mr. Fox’s ability to synthesize complex facts and arguments into understandable and memorable pieces of information makes him a compelling courtroom advocate, as well as a frequent resource to print, broadcast and radio media.

Mr. Martucci practices nationally in business and employment litigation, with a focus on complex class action (employment discrimination and wage-and-hour, including California) litigation, as well as high-stakes executive disputes, whistleblower matters, and unfair competition. Working as part of a trial team, presenting and winning cases on behalf of companies before juries, and advising corporate clients concerning effective business and human resources practices are the primary activities in which Mr. Martucci engages. He has successfully tried a number of jury cases and has effectively resolved a variety of class action cases. His litigation docket is national in scope with cases throughout the U.S. His primary practice areas focus on complex class action (employment discrimination and wage & hour) litigation, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission litigation, unfair competition litigation, and business litigation. In the traditional labor relations field, Mr. Martucci has been involved in a number of NLRB representations, as well as serving as strategic labor relations counsel for national companies. 

A California-based litigator, Mr. Paetkau has represented employers in labor and employment law matters for over 30 years. As both a trusted advisor and litigator, he has handled a variety of labor and employment challenges, including claims of wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, sexual harassment, defamation, wage and hour violations, unpaid commissions, collective and class actions, and unfair labor practice charges. Mr. Paetkau also represents employers in litigation involving unfair competition, misappropriation of trade secrets, restrictive covenants, and employee mobility issues. He also has extensive experience representing employers in traditional union-management labor relations matters, including union organizing campaigns, strikes, and collective bargaining negotiations. Mr. Paetkau  also specializes in international labor and employment law issues and is active in the ABA’s International Labor and Employment Law Committee. He is a frequent writer and speaker on employment law issues.