ABA Family Legal Guide

How the Legal System Works

The Civil Trial: Step by Step

Juries

How are potential jurors selected?

Jurors must be representative of the community in which the trial is being conducted. Courts usually obtain the names of prospective jurors from a regularly maintained list or group of lists, such as lists of registered voters or licensed drivers. When a case is set for trial by jury, the clerk of court uses this list to provide the court with a randomly selected pool of potential jurors representing a fair cross section of the community. The jurors who will actually hear the case are then chosen in a process in which the members of the jury panel are questioned. This process is known as voir dire.