Sample Voir Dire Question

by V. Hale Starr, Starr Litigation Services Founder and Senior Research Analyst

Comprehensive voir dire examination of the jury panel is a necessary concomitant of the constitutional right to trial by a fair and impartial jury. Voir dire provides a unique opportunity to probe the jurors’ prejudices and to obtain background information that bears on the jurors’ qualifications. This background provides a useful predicate for the exercise of challenges. Voir dire serves other important functions as well, such as relaxing the jurors, establishing credibility, educating the jurors about the law and the issues involved in the particular case, avoiding situations that might result in mistrial, and laying a foundation for the opening statement and closing argument.

The communication specialists at Starr Litigation Services craft thought-provoking voir dire questions tailored to your case and presentation style. Our voir dire design strategically elicits the most useful information from each prospective juror. Our extensive experience provides a reliable source of tested and refined queries. Sample questions used in a patent-infringement case might include:

1. Have you, or has anyone close to you, ever worked in a business that had, or claimed to have, trade secrets? IF YES: Who is the person with the experience? What was the nature of the information that was a trade secret?

2. Have you, or has anyone close to you, ever been responsible for protecting trade secrets, patents, or copyrights?

3. Have you, or has anyone close to you, ever been involved in a situation in which trade secrets were stolen or improperly disclosed to a third party?

4. Has anyone here been involved in a situation in which you were asked or required to sign a confidentiality or nondisclosure agreement?

5. Have you, or has anyone close to you, ever been involved in a situation in which a party violated a confidentiality or non disclosure agreement?

6. Do you have strong feelings, either positive or negative, about confidentiality or non disclosure agreements? IF YES: Please come to the bench so we can discuss these feelings.

7. Have you, or has anyone close to you, as part of your employee agreement, been required to assign any copyright or invention over to your (their) employer? IF YES: What were the terms or conditions of that requirement?