Don’t Let Safetyists Derail Your Defense

How to Spot Safetyists During Voir Dire

“Safetyist” jurors threaten even the best defense. Avoid nuclear verdicts with a voir dire strategy that proactively identifies and removes safetyist jurors before they pose a problem to your case.

The Problem with Safetyist Jurors

Who Are Safetyists?

Safetyists demand 100% safety, 100% of the time. They tend to be:

• Extremely risk-averse

• Younger (especially Gen Z)

• Emotional, intuitive, and unflinching in deliberations

• Distrustful of corporations and government agencies

How Are They Impacting Verdicts?

Safetyist jurors are causing havoc for corporate defense teams. They have decided shocking verdicts with massive damages:

• Example: A drowning at a public beach resulted in a $20.73 million verdict because the beach equipment defendant allegedly put "profits over people.”

• Example: A cable company whose technician murdered a customer was hit with $7 billion in punitive damages due to “negligent hiring practices.”

Key Questions for Voir Dire

Personal Risk Tolerance

• "Have you ever stopped using a product due to potential health and safety risks?"

• "Do you believe companies should ensure their products are 100% safe, 100% of the time?"

Corporate Responsibility

• "If a product is misused and someone gets hurt, is the manufacturer still at fault?"

• "Should medicines warn about every possible side effect, no matter how small?"

• "Should products warn about every possible risk of injury, no matter how remote?"

• "Do manufacturers have the responsibility to research and prevent every possible misuse of their products?"

Views on Government Agencies

• "Do you trust agencies like the EPA, FDA, and OSHA to keep people safe?"

• "Do you think corporations have too much influence on government agencies?"

• "Are most government agencies too understaffed and underfunded to do a good job?"

Maximizing Cause Challenges

Communicating with Jurors

• Give them permission to be critical: “I have tough skin. Be brutally honest.”

• Encourage others to share by appreciating negative views: “Thanks for sharing that.”

• Get them to expand by “mirroring”: Repeat their last few words as a question.

• Leverage group agreement: “Who agrees with Juror 5?”

• Lay the grounds for cause: “Would this belief affect your ability to be fair?”

Strategic Considerations

• Conduct pre-trial research to know your venire before you walk in.

• Request additional voir dire time to uncover deep-seated biases.

• File a motion for individual voir dire to prevent juror contamination.

• Focus on high-risk safetyists to make the most of your limited time.

• Form challenges early to get commitments on the record.

A Winning Defense Starts with Voir Dire

Safetyist jurors can cripple your case. A targeted, effective voir dire is your first and most critical line of defense.

Don't leave jury selection to chance.

Partner with IMS Legal Strategies to develop a smarter voir dire strategy today.

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