(See Fed. R. Civ. P. 47)
LR 47-1 Selecting Jurors
(a) Examination of Jurors - Generally
The Court will conduct the voir dire examination of jurors. The matter of attorney voir dire can be addressed with the trial judge at the preliminary pretrial conference.
(b) Supplemental Questions by the Parties
Counsel may submit and serve any questions which they desire to be propounded to the jurors at such time as the Court orders. If there is no such order, questions must be submitted at least seven days before trial.
LR 47-2 Challenges for Cause (See Fed. R. Civ. P. 47(c))
Challenges to excuse a juror for cause will be taken orally.
LR 47-3 Peremptory Challenges (See Fed. R. Civ. P. 47(b))
(a) Numbers of Peremptory Challenges (See 28 U.S.C. ยง 1870)
The trial judge will establish the number of peremptory challenges at the final pretrial conference.
(b) Procedures for Exercising Peremptory Challenges
Unless otherwise directed by the Court, the parties will exercise their peremptory challenges in the following manner:
Step (1) Prior to the commencement of the trial, the courtroom deputy clerk will prepare a seating chart - or a numbered list - showing the names and seated positions of the jurors to be examined.
Step (2) When the time comes to exercise peremptory challenges, the clerk will circulate the seating chart between the parties, starting with the plaintiff.
Step (3) Peremptory challenges will be exercised one at a time, starting with the plaintiff, and alternating between the parties until completed.
Step (4) A party may exercise a peremptory challenge by circling the juror's name on the seating chart, and marking the chart with the number of the challenge, e.g., P-1, D-1, and so forth.
Step (5) If a party elects to pass a peremptory challenge, the decision to pass will be counted as though the challenge had been exercised. However, it will not constitute a waiver of subsequent challenges unless there are no subsequent challenges by any other party.
| Amendment History to LR 47 | |
|---|---|
| June 1, 2002 | |
| LR 47.2(b) | ". . . and serve" was added. |
| December 1, 2009 | |
| LR 47 | Modified caption. |
| LR 47.1 | Former LR 47.1(a) deleted and subsection (b) moved to LR 41-1. Subsequent rules renumbered. |
| LR 47-1(b) | Deadline for parties to submit supplemental questions changed from "three (3)" days to "seven (7)" days before trial. |
| March 1, 2014 | |
| LR 47-1(b) | Changed "seven (7)" to "seven." At Step 3, removed hyphens from "one-at-a-time." |