Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly reported on the first year of attorney-panel voir dire in the Superior Court. Panel voir dire is the form of jury selection in which a lawyer is permitted to question a group of prospective jurors. It was introduced in February 2015 pursuant to Standing Order 1-15.
Some have welcomed the change while others have approached it with caution.
Attorney Scott J. Tucker, a Boston lawyer who defends personal injury and construction cases, said he has seen plaintiffs’ lawyers come into court with a long list of questions for jurors that they want the judge to ask.
“Everybody is concerned that somebody is going to say the wrong thing. If so, you’re going to lose the juror. If it’s panel voir dire, you lose the panel,” Tucker said.
Read the article on the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly website, published Feb. 18, 2016 (subscriber access required).