Under these latter circumstances, jurors are more reluctant to candidly discuss their experiences and opinions and are less likely to fully participate in the questioning process. A juror questionnaire may be your only route to greater disclosure in these situations. Developing a Positive Relationship with Jurors Establishing rapport with jurors provides two major benefits. First, jurors are more willing to be open and candid in their answers. Second, the positive impression of the Lawyer fostered by rapport increases the lawyer's persuasiveness at trial.
Rapport results from positive interaction with jurors.
Thus, there is a need to develop questions that give jurors an opportunity to talk about themselves and their views. As with information gathering, open-ended questions are helpful in developing rapport. Educating Jurors Lawyers need to take the opportunity to educate jurors on important issues and decision-making criteria. In essence, we want jurors to understand the issues and decision-making criteria that are important to our case. Jurors often come into court with misconceptions as to what their task as jurors will be and what the law is.