In the weeks before trial of a product liability case, you will presumably begin to focus more significantly on jury selection, perhaps the most important stage of any jury trial. One way to maximize the voir dire process is to use juror questionnaires – a series of written questions that are given to the prospective jury panel and answered in writing by each prospective juror prior to voir dire.
Why would you want to use juror questionnaires? First, they can be particularly useful when your trial judge will allow only court-conducted or limited lawyer-conducted voir dire. They provide counsel with an opportunity to ask questions that are important to your client’s interests, but that the court may not ask or that limited voir dire proceedings may not accommodate.
