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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    Personal Injury and Med Mal

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Wednesday, September 11, 2024

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

$197.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE webinar will offer guidance to counsel trying cases where race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or other similar characteristics are a key issue. The panel will suggest ways to deal with sensitive issues during voir dire and how to identify and "de-select" jurors who could be biased against counsel's case.

Faculty

Kelly Hanker
Attorney
Trial Lawyers for Justice

Ms. Hanker is a trial attorney known for increasing the value of cases across the country, including catastrophic and traumatic injury, employment, business litigation, class action, and medical malpractice cases. Ms. Hanker’s connection to her clients after sustaining a life-long disability in a car crash herself and being called in to the Plaintiff’s side by her then trial attorney—now mentor, Nick Rowley—is unmatched. Ms. Hanker, now often referred to as the Empathy Lawyer, has repeatedly been named a Super Lawyers Rising Star for Southern California, is a graduate of the Gerry Spence Method trial college and has been honored by the Los Angeles Business Journal as a finalist for Philanthropist of the Year. She also serves on the Foundation Board of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, the Consumer Attorneys of California Women’s Caucus, the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles’s Women in Law Committee and is a member of AAJ.

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Zachary B. Pyers
Partner
Reminger

Mr. Pyers litigates complex commercial, professional liability, tort, and class action matters. He represents clients in commercial disputes, including: breach of contract claims; anti-trust actions; covenants not to compete; and, business torts. In his professional liability practice, Mr. Pyers represents: attorneys; accountants; architects; engineers; surveyors; builders; real estate agents, insurance agents; directors and officers; and, investment advisors in litigation and licensure proceedings. He also counsels several corporate clients on transactional matters.

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Description

In some cases, race, gender, ethnicity, or other traits are important aspects of the case, but it can be difficult to discuss these topics with potential jurors in public. It can be even more uncomfortable trying to get jurors to self-identify negatively perceived views or to admit to harboring certain biases. Counsel will need to develop strategies and tools to uncover biases without necessarily naming them directly.

Counsel will need to identify those attitudes or values that make jurors unreceptive to the position counsel wishes to take and then help jurors feel comfortable enough to divulge them. That requires creating an atmosphere where jurors feel comfortable talking as well as framing questions in a way that gets jurors to disclose their views.

Once the jury is selected, the issues do not disappear, and counsel needs practical tools to continue to address them throughout the trial.

Listen as this experienced panel of trial experts discusses jury selection strategies in cases where race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or other similar characteristics are a key issue.

Outline

  1. Creating an open, comfortable atmosphere
  2. Identifying biases of concern
  3. Developing lines of questioning that reveal biases
  4. Uncovering possible unconscious bias
  5. Strategies for specific issues

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key questions:

  • When might race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or immigration status be key factors in the evidence at trial?
  • How can counsel help jurors reveal biases?
  • Can questionnaires be useful in revealing biases?