ABA Family Legal Guide

How the Legal System Works

The Civil Trial: Step by Step

Juries

How are the jury members selected for my particular case?

Potential jurors are questioned in open court by the trial judge or the parties' lawyers, depending on local statutes and court rules, in order to discover any reason to believe that they might have a potential bias or prejudice relating to the parties or to issues in the case. If a juror concedes such a bias or prejudice, or if evidence suggests he or she may have a bias, the lawyer may ask the court to strike the juror for cause and remove him or her from the panel of potential jurors in that case.

In addition to challenges for cause, each lawyer can make peremptory challenges. These challenges permit a lawyer to excuse a potential juror without stating a cause. Peremptory challenges are limited to a certain number determined by the kind of lawsuit being tried. They can't be used to remove potential jurors on the basis of race or gender.