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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 leadi ...
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Trial lawyers do not become great overnight. It takes persistence, a relentless work ethic, a willingness to learn from mistakes, a burning passion for the craft, an authentic self, and the courage and vulnerability to enter the arena time and again. Those who become great trial lawyers also become great people. Through their work, they grapple with the realities of the human condition and in the process cultivate character, principle, integrity, leadership, strength, compassion, and perseve ...
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Joe Fried – Are You Losing the Game of Psychology in Jury Selection?
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"Trial law is a game of psychology at some level," says Joe Fried, renowned as the "Godfather of Trucking Cases" who's litigated in 43 states. Regardless of the venue, he focuses on universally shared values in jury selection. “The magic of doing what we do is to build a case around the things that make us the same, not the things that make us diff…
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Conduct Your Focus Groups Correctly | Jessica Brylo (Trial Consultant)
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"Focus groups give you a lot of time to practice things that you don't get to practice in court. Getting your feet wet where you can do it without spending a bunch of money is really the only way you can do it these days." Jessica Brylo is a trial consultant specializing in jury selection, case framing, focus groups, and trial strategy. She has mor…
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Trying Cases the Right Way | Chris Finney (Personal Injury Lawyer)
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"It's really important when you meet your client to develop that authentic connection. Because if I have an authentic connection with my client, we always have a better connection than the defense." Chris Finney joins us for this episode of RVA Trial Lawyers. We discuss how he built his law practice, his commitment to doing trial work the right way…
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Are You Saying the Right Things in Voir Dire?
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“What are your thoughts?” jury consultant Harry Plotkin is fond of asking potential jurors. He likes that question because it’s not “yes or no.” But it’s just the beginning. Tune in for Harry to explain the “hard part.” And learn a technique from Dan Kramer that helps jurors express where they fall on a spectrum rather than forcing binary choices. …
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"Your Client is Exhibit A, and There is No Exhibit B" | Rand Robins (Personal Injury Lawyer)
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"The toughness and resilience of clients of mine, to see those people pick themselves up off the mat and carry on with life as best they can, is inspiring." Rand Robins joined us on RVA Trial Lawyers. Rand initially studied journalism but found the investigative skills lent themselves well to gathering evidence. He steadily compiled a notebook of c…
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Arash Homampour – Get Jurors to Spew the Poison Now, Not Later
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"I do not reject good cases," says Arash Homampour, responding to a joke from hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer that he seeks only the toughest liability situations. Known for winning eight-figure verdicts in cases other attorneys might avoid, Arash breaks down his authentic approach to jury selection. He explains why he addresses bad facts head-o…
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The Rewards of Personal Injury Law | Maureen Farrell (Personal Injury Lawyer)
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"I think it's wonderful work. I'm grateful every day that I get to do, for money, something that I find incredibly interesting. I think personal injury is the best kept secret—the brightest young attorneys should want to do this kind of work." Maureen Farrell joined us this week on RVA Trial Lawyers. We discuss her work as a personal injury trial l…
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Choosing a Winning Jury | Harry Plotkin (Trial Consultant)
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"All the best verdicts that I've had, in the opening statement, the jurors' eyes are bugging out and their jaws are hitting the floor. And they tell you afterwards, 'I didn't realize this case was so strong, and I'm sorry that I questioned it in voir dire. But then I heard your case in opening.' So that's where you want them. You don't want to over…
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Claire Plotkin - Are You Striking Your Best Jurors?
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In jury selection, many attorneys focus solely on getting cause challenges. But jury consultant Claire Plotkin brings a fresh perspective on framing "bias" to the conversation with hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer. She explains that telling jurors they're "biased" can backfire – especially in cases where potential jurors' strong feelings might ac…
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The Grind that Creates the Magic | Kenny Berger (Personal Injury Lawyer)
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"The magic that happens in a case at trial is a lot of times built on the seemingly mundane efforts to get discovery, to take depositions, to request more discovery based on those depositions, to request more depositions based on that discovery, this kind of osmotic relationship between written discovery and depositions, kind of doing the doing and…
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Gary Dordick – Bias Isn’t Bad; Not Finding It in Jurors Is
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Gary Dordick wanted to know why the sole juror voted against him, so he asked her after trial. Turns out, he reminded her of her ex-husband, so she didn’t believe a word he said. “Okay, but, Ma’am, why didn't you tell me that when we were picking the jury?” Gary wondered. “Oh,” she responded, “you never asked.” Gary tells this cautionary tale to ho…
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Representing the Catastrophically Injured | Stephanie Grana (Personal Injury Lawyer)
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"It sucks when we lose, but when we win and hopefully you win more than you lose on our side, it's life changing. I can't get that from any other job. And to know 10 years down the line, and now I've been in practice long enough, 15 years down the line, somebody sends me a card out of the blue and they just say, I was thinking about you. Or in a de…
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Steve Vartazarian – Keeping Jury Selection Simple
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To keep jury selection simple, Steve Vartazarian turns to simple tools: paper and pen. In this visit with hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer, he explains why. “It occurred to me, ‘Oh, my God!’ I was, like, one day: ‘Jury selection is the only time where we're only relegated to words, and we can't show the jury anything,’” says the founder of The Va…
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"You Can't Handle The Truth" | Donald Marcari (Personal Injury Lawyer)
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"Find out how this accident affected them. Talk to their spouse, talk to their cousins, their best friends. No matter how big or small, it has affected that person in some way. Maybe they had a good car that was paid for and now they have a car payment. Maybe they had to miss work and can't pay their bills. Maybe they missed their kid's graduation.…
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Ricardo Echeverria – Picking Jurors: Common Sense Approaches
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“Folks, I know you're here because you have to be, and we appreciate that. And I want to tell you right up front that you don't owe me anything…” So begins Ricardo Echeverria’s typical introduction to prospective jurors. In this conversation with “Picking Justice” hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer, Ricardo guides plaintiffs’ lawyers on jury select…
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The Essential Traits of Great Trial Lawyers | Hon. Mark Bennett (Federal District Court Judge)
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"You have to have the desire and passion to be the best that you can be. And that takes an incredible amount of hard work. You have to find role models. It's good to read about it, but you have to watch and, you have to second chair really good trial lawyers. And then you have to be fearless. Not every trial is going to go like you thought it was g…
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“Picking Justice”: A Trial Lawyer’s Guide to Picking Better Juries
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In the first episode of "Picking Justice,” jury consultant Harry Plotkin and trial lawyer Dan Kramer invite lawyers on a journey to heightened jury selection skills. Using real-life lessons learned, they discuss the importance of considering different types of jurors and crafting questions that will yield better answers. They also set the stage for…
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Ibiere Seck – Turning Bad Facts Into Strengths
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The injured plaintiff can’t have children. One potential juror says, “No big deal. Adopt.” Another says, “That’s not what I signed up for when I got married.” If she were trying the case, Ibiere Seck would approach jury selection with curiosity and a non-judgmental conversation like this: “Okay, where do you fall? Let's talk about that...” “That's …
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The Human Side of Trial Lawyering | Joe Fried (Personal Injury Lawyer)
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"At the end of the day, what's behind dunking a basketball and what's behind being a badass cha-cha dancer is the same feeling. It's human, it's innate, and it's very real and powerful. And that's where decisions are made, like we talked about earlier. The biggest fallacy in what we do is the idea that people make decisions based on logic. They don…
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Welcome to Picking Justice: A Jury Selection Podcast
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Ready to take your verdicts and jury selection to the next level? Jury consultant Harry Plotkin and trial lawyer Dan Kramer are your ticket to tipping the scales before trial begins. You’re not just picking a jury; you’re picking justice. Have a jury selection story to share? Email us at [email protected], and we may address it in a future…
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Defending Police Officers and Mentoring the Next Generation of Trial Lawyers | David Corrigan (Civil Defense Lawyer)
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"In almost every instance, the police officer doesn't go to work that day saying, I hope I get in a fight or shoot somebody today. I've never had that case. And so the human element is exactly what we're talking about. Who among us has a job when you go to work where you might end up in a fight, getting shot at, or having to shoot someone. These ar…
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Building a Thriving Practice | Ben and Brian Glass (Personal Injury and Disability Lawyers)
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"You are the power in the courtroom. You are the authority, even above the judge. And I know everybody will say, no, the jury will look to the judge. I think there's a space for the trial lawyer to be the authority in the courtroom by everything that you do there. And the cool thing that I want lawyers who are listening to know, especially young la…
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The Pursuit of Justice | Mike Gill (Federal Criminal Prosecutor)
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"Number one, do justice. Do the right thing. No matter what, at the end of the day, that's what we get to do. We're fortunate to get to do it. You are entrusted by this office to do justice and make sure you hold that close and don't ever deviate from that. Never compromise. Always do the right thing." Mike Gill joined us on RVA Trial Lawyers. We d…
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Life as a Criminal Defense Lawyer | Jeff Everhart (Criminal Defense Lawyer)
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"The fun thing about our business is, we get to try cases with good lawyers. Trying cases is fun. Trying juries is fun. Losing juries ain't fun, but trying them is fun." Jeff Everhart joined us on RVA Trial Lawyers. We discuss his 42 years as a criminal defense lawyer, some of his more significant cases (e.g., The Southside Strangler and Ricky Gray…
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Focus Groups and Challenging the Status Quo | Irv and Joseph Cantor (Personal Injury Lawyers)
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"I'm able to help people with the most important thing in their life. I'm able to fight for them in court, which is just a blast. On top of that, it's the most intellectually stimulating job I can imagine because I have to learn about science, medicine, products liability, you name it. So I've never been bored and even with all the anxiety and slee…
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Prosecution to Criminal Defense | John Rockecharlie and Russ Stone (Criminal Defense Lawyers)
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"One piece of advice I would give people is you really have to be yourself because insincerity is sensed by juries. It's sensed by judges. If you're trying to be something you're not, it's not going to work." John Rockecharlie and Russ Stone joined us on RVA Trial Lawyers. We discuss their many years working as prosecutors and criminal defense lawy…
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Making a Difference for the Community from the Bench | Hon. Catherine Hammond (Virginia Circuit Court Judge)
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"To me, if you say what is justice? I remember during the summer of George Floyd when people said no peace, no justice. I started wondering all summer long what people think is justice. I think having those seven or twelve people participate, that's justice." Hon. Catherine Hammond joined us on RVA Trial Lawyers. We discuss her career as a lawyer a…
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Making the City of Richmond Safer as a Prosecutor | Learned Barry (State Criminal Prosecutor)
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"If you really do your job as a prosecutor, you can help people." Learned Barry joined us on RVA Trial Lawyers. We discuss his 47 years as a prosecutor in the City of Richmond, his more than 700 murder cases, and his commitment to trying cases well. It was a privilege having Learned join us. RVA Trial Lawyers: Virginia's Trial Lawyer Podcast Trial …
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Medical Malpractice Trial Work | Brewster Rawls (Medical Malpractice Lawyer)
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"You have to have that spark of curiosity of creativity, but it has to be coupled with an utter fearlessness." Brewster Rawls joined us on RVA Trial Lawyers. We discuss his career as a trial lawyer, his work as a medical malpractice attorney, and his love for trying cases. It was a privilege having Brewster join us. RVA Trial Lawyers: Virginia's Tr…
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Defending the Defenseless | Russell Bowles (Criminal Defense Lawyer)
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"You're not gonna be another number coming through the system. You're gonna be a human being with everything that is good about you. Maybe some things that perhaps are not so good. But the key is to humanize you." Russell Bowles joined us on RVA Trial Lawyers. We discuss his many years trying cases as a criminal defense attorney, the importance of …
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Civil Justice for the Injured | John Shea (Personal Injury Lawyer)
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“Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and advertise.” John Shea joined us on RVA Trial Lawyers. We discuss his career, his record-setting verdict against Norfolk Southern, and his work in the courtroom. It was a privilege having John join us. RVA Trial Lawyers: Virginia's Trial Lawyer Podcast Trial lawyers do not become great overnight. It …
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"If Not You, Who?" and the Washington, D.C. Sniper Case | Craig Cooley (Criminal Defense Lawyer)
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"If not you, who?" Craig Cooley joined us on RVA Trial Lawyers. We discuss his long career as a criminal defense lawyer, his representation of DC Sniper Lee Boyd Malvo, and his work in the courtroom. It was a privilege having Craig join us. "To dream the impossible dream To fight the unbeatable foe To bear with unbearable sorrow To run where the br…
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