Overlawyered » jury selection http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:11:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Update: Branham v. Ford http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/update-branham-v-ford/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/update-branham-v-ford/#comments Thu, 19 Aug 2010 05:37:13 +0000 Ted Frank http://overlawyered.com/?p=18935 In 2006, I wrote:
In May 2001, Cheryl Jane Hale was driving four children to a sleepover in her 1987 Ford Bronco. She didn’t bother to have the children wear their seat belts, so, when she took her eyes off the road to argue with the backseat passengers, and thus drove off the road and flipped the car, 12-year-old Jesse Branham was thrown from the car and suffered brain damage. A jury in Hampton County, South Carolina (the second jury to be impaneled—the first one was dismissed in a mistrial when it was discovered after two weeks of trial that five of the jurors were former clients of Branham’s lawyers) decided that this was only 45% Hale’s fault, held Ford 55% responsible, which puts Ford entirely on the hook for $31 million in damages.

On Monday, the South Carolina Supreme Court reversed because of prejudicial closing arguments that relied heavily on inadmissible evidence. More importantly for lawyers practicing in South Carolina, the Court adopted “the risk-utility test with its requirement of showing a feasible alternative design.”

How bad of a judicial hellhole is Hampton County? Though Hale was a co-defendant, she cooperated with the plaintiffs throughout the trial in their case against Ford, even sitting at the plaintiffs’ table; but because the judge classified Hale as a co-defendant, it meant that Hale got half of the peremptory challenges of the “defense.” More from Comer; no press coverage that I’ve seen yet. (cross-posted from Point of Law)

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/update-branham-v-ford/feed/ 2 July 2 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2010/07/july-2-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/07/july-2-roundup/#comments Fri, 02 Jul 2010 13:11:57 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=18009
  • Report: European sunscreens use superior ingredients US regulators haven’t gotten around to approving [NYT]
  • Some in Pakistan want Zuckerberg executed for hosting “draw Mohammed” [Freethinker, UK]
  • GM fought Clean Air Act? “Sen. Franken’s bad environmental history” [Adler/Volokh]
  • Scary McChesneyite plans for federal intervention in media: FTC seems to be listening [Thierer, City Journal] FCC relations with Free Press on the skids? [Mike Riggs, Daily Caller]
  • In 1978 Canada Supreme Court judicially imposed cap on noneconomic damages, world doesn’t seem to have ended for Canadian litigants [Wood, PoL]
  • “Landlord victorious in Peeps trial” [Lowering the Bar, earlier]
  • Who’ll wind up paying in Chinese drywall litigation? [Risk and Insurance]
  • How not to get out of jury duty [Abnormal Use]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/07/july-2-roundup/feed/ 1     Hardships of prolonged jury service http://overlawyered.com/2010/05/hardships-of-prolonged-jury-service/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/05/hardships-of-prolonged-jury-service/#comments Mon, 17 May 2010 05:18:06 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=17382 They’re felt more than ever in today’s economy, notes Amy Alkon.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/05/hardships-of-prolonged-jury-service/feed/ 4     February 6 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2010/02/february-6-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/02/february-6-roundup-2/#comments Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:33:34 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=15971
  • Wronged wife loses suit under California “Drug Dealer Liability Act” (DDLA) against mistress who supplied crack cocaine to husband [OnPoint News]
  • “D.C. Circuit to Former Judge in Pants Lawsuit: Follow the Rules” [NLJ, more, earlier]
  • “Law firm demands retailer destroy all copies of Olivia Munn comic, retailer refuses” [BoingBoing, HeavyInk, earlier on TJIC]
  • Can’t find jury for tobacco trial: “Lawyers excused a woman who said people have no right to sue over diseases that are disclosed on the warning label of a package.” [Russell Jackson, Chamber-backed W.V. Record]
  • Despite widespread misconception to the contrary, editing comments generally does not open blogger to liability over what remains [Citizen Media Law]
  • To heck with HIPAA, introduce your patients to each other if you think they’ll get along [Musings of a Dinosaur]
  • Devoted daughter vs. RSPCA: epic will contest in Britain over family farm bequest [Times Online]
  • Woman found guilty after planting dead rat in meal at upscale restaurant [Appleton Post-Crescent via Lowering the Bar and Obscure Store]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/02/february-6-roundup-2/feed/ 0     April 7 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2009/04/april-7-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/04/april-7-roundup/#comments Tue, 07 Apr 2009 04:09:11 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=10339
  • Wisconsin lawyer pressing bill to allow punitive damages against home resellers over claimed defects [Wisconsin State Journal] More: Dad29.
  • Longer than her will? NY Times posts ten-page jury questionnaire in Brooke Astor inheritance case ["City Room"] “Supreme Court: No Constitutional Right to Peremptory Challenge” [Anne Reed]
  • Georgia’s sex offender law, like Illinois’s, covers persons who never committed a sex crime [Balko]
  • “The lawsuits over TVA’s coal ash spill have come from all over Roane County – except the spots closest to home.” [Knoxville News]
  • Bootleg soap: residents smuggle detergents after enactment of Spokane phosphate ban [AP/Yahoo]
  • UK: Elderly Hindu man in religious-accommodation bid for approval of open-air funeral pyre [Telegraph]
  • No DUI, no one hurt, but harsh consequences anyway when Connecticut 18 year old is caught buying six-pack of beer [Fountain]
  • Only one or two not covered previously at this site ["12 Most Ridiculous Lawsuits", Oddee]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2009/04/april-7-roundup/feed/ 1     Peremptory juror challenges http://overlawyered.com/2009/03/peremptory-juror-challenges/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/03/peremptory-juror-challenges/#comments Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:24:02 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=9606 I’m on record as saying I wouldn’t mind if they were abolished entirely, although the idea floated by Iowa lawprof in Nathan Koppel’s WSJ article yesterday, of limiting them to three per side, seems like a plausible compromise. (A further possible refinement: excusing more juror prospects if both sides agree in wanting them off the case).

    Most of the lawyers who are blogging in response to the Koppel article, however, take a position sharply different from mine: Patrick and Ken at Popehat, Scott Greenfield, Mark Bennett (and further). (More: WSJ law blog.) Deadline pressure doesn’t permit me to join in, but anyone interested in the issue will want to follow the discussion. Earlier mentions on this website are here, including a discussion of England’s near-abolition of the practice in 1989.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2009/03/peremptory-juror-challenges/feed/ 1     Streamlining jury duty http://overlawyered.com/2009/01/streamlining-jury-duty/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/01/streamlining-jury-duty/#comments Fri, 23 Jan 2009 05:24:20 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=8496 I made a few favorable remarks about streamlining jury-selection (voir dire) procedure the other day, Houston criminal defense lawyer Mark Bennett expressed an emphatically contrary view that “Streamlining of the justice system will be the death of freedom,” and several others weighed in, including SSFC (Patrick). Many of the posts are memorialized at Nicole Black’s Legal Tweets. It was also agreed (in posts not included) that civil and criminal jury selection raised at least somewhat different issues.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2009/01/streamlining-jury-duty/feed/ 7     Microblog 2008-11-19 http://overlawyered.com/2008/11/microblog-2008-11-19/ http://overlawyered.com/2008/11/microblog-2008-11-19/#comments Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:02:15 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=7890
  • Some backers of big national service plan say better roll it out now before the crisis atmosphere passes [Welch, Reason "Hit and Run"]
  • Sorry ma’am, if hubby’s policy excludes coverage for injury to family members, you can’t blame him as “uninsured motorist” [The Briefcase, Ohio]
  • Much-cited “$70/hr” figure for GM labor costs misleading: covers army of retirees, not just current workers [Salmon; but see McArdle]
  • Thoughts on alleged inability of GM to get debtor-in-possession financing for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy [Oman, ConcurOp]
  • Texas p.i. atty Mark Lanier famous for Xmas parties headlined by top stars, this year it’s Miley Cyrus a/k/a Hannah Montana [ABA Journal]
  • “I Want Angry Jurors With Low Self-Esteem” [Bennett, Defending People]
  • “We just really wanted to shatter the cupcake-pizza dichotomy. It’s just existed for too long.” [Seth Gitter via Tyler Cowen]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2008/11/microblog-2008-11-19/feed/ 1     Microblog 2008-11-14 http://overlawyered.com/2008/11/microblog-2008-11-14/ http://overlawyered.com/2008/11/microblog-2008-11-14/#comments Sat, 15 Nov 2008 04:59:59 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/2008/11/microblog-2008-11-14/
  • Lawyers and other professionals who blog should read new Kevin LaCroix post “On Blogging” [D&O Diary h/t @SecuritiesD] #
  • Daily H.L. Mencken quotes [courtesy @ahndymac] #
  • Funny, earthy blog by urban emergency room nurse [Crass-Pollination] # @danimari Odd how ERs generate so many of the best medblogs e.g. WhiteCoatRants, ER Stories, Movin’ Meat, SymTym, GruntDoc etc. #
  • Calm down, conservatives, Dems aren’t planning to revive Fairness Doctrine [James Rainey, L.A. Times] # Or are we sure about that? [Ed Morrissey, Patterico]
  • Advice on jury selection: “don’t continue to poke a bee hive with a stick” [Texas Country Trial Lawyer, h/t @HouCrimLaw] #
  • Video humor for font geeks [College Humor, h/t @sekimori] #
  • Do you blog, tweet, send saucy emails or IMs? You may not be well suited for a job in the new admin [Caron, TaxProf] #
  • @rebeccawatson of possible interest regarding litigious diploma mills [this site, Oct. 27, 2003] #
  • Beautiful photos of New York in the 1930s [Flickr h/t @CoolPics] #
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2008/11/microblog-2008-11-14/feed/ 1     Get juror prospects talking http://overlawyered.com/2008/11/get-juror-prospects-talking/ http://overlawyered.com/2008/11/get-juror-prospects-talking/#comments Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:15:16 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=7806 After all, that’s the way to disqualify them: “If he speaks long enough, he might say something that lets you strike him for cause, too.” (Trial Theater, Oct. 24).

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