Managing Jurors in Catastrophic Personal Injury Trials: Voir Dire, Jury Selection, and Countering Sympathy
A live 90-minute CLE video webinar with interactive Q&A
This CLE webinar will guide defense counsel through voir dire and jury selection techniques in cases involving catastrophic personal injury claims and discuss ways to counter jurors' sympathy during a trial.
Outline
- Assessing the impact of testimony regarding catastrophic injuries on low vs. high affect jurors
- Discussion of how to use voir dire to select low affect jurors
- Strategies in questioning fact and expert witnesses to counter juror sympathy
- Analysis of the importance of economic vs. non-economic damages to jurors and the impact of sympathy on both
Benefits
The panel will review these and other relevant topics:
- How do jurors approach catastrophic personal injury claims?
- How can defense attorneys use voir dire to select jurors that will be able to evaluate the facts objectively?
- How should defense attorneys approach fact and expert witnesses to counter jury sympathy?
Faculty

Beth C. Boggs
Managing Partner
Boggs Avellino Lach & Boggs
Ms. Boggs concentrates her practice in civil litigation involving construction defect, insurance coverage, employment... | Read More
Ms. Boggs concentrates her practice in civil litigation involving construction defect, insurance coverage, employment law, premises liability, transportation, defense of pharmacy cases, civil rights defense, professional negligence, toxic tort defense, asbestos exposure defense and insurance defense. She is a frequent author on a variety of insurance and trial topics and speaker at national conferences on trial-related topics. Ms. Boggs was selected to be a Senior Fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America, an honorary society honoring the top one-half of one percent of American lawyers.
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Cheryl A. Bush
Founding Partner
Bush Seyferth
Ms. Bush has extensive first-chair trial experience and has obtained exceptionally positive results for her clients,... | Read More
Ms. Bush has extensive first-chair trial experience and has obtained exceptionally positive results for her clients, including Fortune 500 companies, by winning 95.97% of her jury trials. She serves as national counsel for a major automotive manufacturer, handling catastrophic air bag trials and coordinating discovery throughout the country. Ms. Bush’s cases, which have spanned 30 states, often involve high-level nationwide media exposure. She teaches regularly on trial advocacy and is a Fellow in both the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Society of Barristers.
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Amy L. Gaffney
Attorney
Gaffney Lewis
Ms. Gaffney represents individuals and some companies throughout the State in employment and tort matters. She has... | Read More
Ms. Gaffney represents individuals and some companies throughout the State in employment and tort matters. She has served as lead class counsel on a number of wage and hour class actions that have brought unpaid overtime to many South Carolina workers. Ms. Gaffney devotes a portion of her practice to representing employees and executives in the negotiation of their employment agreements, separation packages and post-employment restrictive covenants. She is a certified mediator and has been involved in the resolution of hundreds of state and federal employment and tort cases. Ms. Gaffney has also investigated employment concerns for businesses throughout South Carolina and the Southeastern United States.
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