About this podcast
Attention Trial Lawyers: You’ve meticulously crafted your opening statement, mastered your directs and crosses, and fine-tuned your closing argument. But have you developed a strategy for jury selection? What will you do when a potential juror gives an unexpected answer? Do you even want that person on your jury? The clock is ticking — you need to think fast.
Introducing Picking Justice, the essential podcast for trial lawyers. Join nationally renowned jury consultant Harry Plotkin and leading trial lawyer Dan Kramer as they guide you through the complex art of jury selection.
Harry and Dan share invaluable insights and real-world strategies, breaking down the myths and misconceptions that often hold lawyers back in the courtroom.
Whether you’re a seasoned litigator or preparing for your first big case, Picking Justice offers expert guidance to help you make smarter choices during jury selection.
Subscribe today and elevate your trial skills with Picking Justice.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 44 episodes
- Arash Homampour – For-Cause Challenges and Money Talk in Voir Dire (Rewind) · 45 min · Episode 43A juror who promises to be fair may still not belong on your jury. Arash Homampour of The Homampour Law Firm, a trial lawyer known for winning eight-figure verdicts in cases…
- Jon Marko – Why Bad-on-Paper Jurors Can Deliver Big Verdicts · 50 min · Episode 42The juror who looks worst on paper can end up delivering your biggest verdict. Jon Marko, a Detroit trial lawyer fresh off an $896 million verdict, has seen it happen more than…
- Steve Vartazarian – How to Keep Biased Jurors From Being Rehabilitated (Rewind) · 1 h 34 min · Episode 41A juror who says they won't award money for pain and suffering only becomes a cause challenge if that answer holds up when the judge or defense tries to rehabilitate them. Steve…
- Joe Fried – How to Win Over Hostile Jurors (Rewind) · 58 min · Episode 40Some of the toughest jurors aren't the ones to strike; they're the ones to win over. Joe Fried, an Atlanta trial lawyer with Fried Goldberg who has tried cases in 43 states…
- Non-Economic Damages: Spot the Jurors Who Won’t Award · 47 min · Episode 39Most jurors haven't decided how they feel about giving millions for pain and suffering until the trial's nearly over — so how do you spot the ones who never will? In this deep…
- Brett Schreiber – Two Cups and a Pitcher of Blame · 54 min · Episode 38Federal 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…
- Mel Orchard — Get the Wrong Jurors to Out Themselves · 44 min · Episode 37Most 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…
- Kimball Jones – Voir Dire Lessons from a 9-Figure Verdict Run · 52 min · Episode 36Imagine 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…
- Bernard Alexander – The Beauty of Employment Litigation, from the Lawyer Who Won $136M Against Tesla · 50 min · Episode 35The 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…
- Jennifer Keller – Business Behaving Badly? Telling Jurors "It's a Company" Isn’t Enough · 47 min · Episode 34Some 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…
- David deRubertis – How I Stopped Hating Jury Selection · 57 min · Episode 33David 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…
- Samantha Teal – What I’ve Learned from Consulting on More Than 100 Trials · 55 min · Episode 32What 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…
- Daniel Rodriguez – This Farmworker's Son Seeds Million-Dollar Verdicts · 51 min · Episode 31Daniel 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…
- Dirk Vandever – The “Jeff Bezos” Approach to Winning Conservative Jurors · 55 min · Episode 30Dirk 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…
- Keith Mitnik – What Package Are You Delivering to Jurors? · 1 h 18 min · Episode 29“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…
- Keith Bruno – The Jurors Seem to Like You? Get Over It · 1 h 0 min · Episode 28If 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…
- Jude Basile – Two Goals that Win Juries From the Start · 54 min · Episode 27When 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…
- Christian Morris – Getting into Jurors’ Minds, One Scenario at a Time · 1 h 0 min · Episode 26A 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…
- Jesse Wilson – Why Jurors Root for "I Can" Over "I Can't" · 1 h 2 min · Episode 25Everybody 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…
- Harry and Dan – Celebrating 12 Months of Helping You Pick 12 Jurors · 49 min · Episode 24"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…
