The following materials are available on this website:

A.     Juror Question Sheet (Note: This is the only voir dire which will be asked unless lawyers provide additional questions with the final pretrial order.)

B.     Civil Jury Selection: Introduction (read before the voir dire)

C.     Preliminary Jury Instructions in Civil Case (read once the jury is sworn)

D.    Jury Selection Procedure

The venire as a whole is given a brief introduction to the jury selection process, the case and the parties. For this purpose, counsel are responsible for providing to the court an agreed brief statement of the case and a list of all counsel, parties, witnesses and persons to be mentioned in testimony no later than one week before trial.

The clerk will seat 14 prospective jurors in the jury box. Each prospective juror will be given a question sheet seeking personal background information. Each prospective juror will be asked to give the requested information and the court (or the attorneys) will follow up with any supplemental voir dire questions that the court has approved. Following the voir dire examination of the entire panel, counsel will be given an opportunity to exercise challenges outside the presence of the prospective jurors. Cause challenges will be entertained first. Then the parties will take turns exercising peremptory challenges, beginning with the plaintiff. When the parties have exhausted their challenges to the prospective panel, the challenged persons will be excused and, if necessary, additional prospective jurors seated. Once a prospective juror or group of prospective jurors is passed, counsel will not be permitted to challenge such persons.

Once a jury is selected and sworn, the court will give preliminary instructions. Before the trial, counsel is encouraged to visit Judge Gottschall's website and print copies of (1) the court's introductory statement to the venire; (2) the personal information questionnaire; and (3) the court's preliminary instructions. Objections to these materials will be considered on the morning of trial before the prospective jury is brought into the courtroom.

E.    Procedure on Admission of Deposition Transcripts in Trials

A copy of any deposition transcript sought to be read at trial must be submitted to the court no less than two weeks before the first day of trial. All material sought to be introduced by the plaintiff shall be bracketed in red. All material sought to be introduced by the defendant shall be bracketed in blue. Objections shall be listed on a separate sheet (with page and line number) with sufficient detail provided so that a ruling can be made.

Important Note: Ten days before the start of trial, plaintiff's counsel is required to provide the court with the following materials which will be inserted into the Civil Jury Selection: Introduction: (1) a brief, agreed statement of the case to familiarize the venire with the basic issues in the case; (2) a list of all parties, witnesses and involved parties to screen potential jurors who may have familiarity with individuals who will be involved in the case; and (3) a list of counsel who will be participating in the case.

A.     Juror Question Sheet (Note: This is the only voir dire which will be asked unless lawyers provide additional questions as discussed below.)

B.     Introductory Remarks for the Venire (read before the voir dire)

C.     Preliminary Jury Instructions in Criminal Case (read once the jury is sworn)

D.    Jury Selection Procedure

The venire as a whole is given a brief introduction to the jury selection process, the case and the parties. For this purpose, counsel are responsible for providing to the court an agreed brief statement of the case and a list of all counsel, parties, witnesses and persons to be mentioned in testimony no later than one week before trial.

The clerk will seat 14 prospective jurors in the jury box. Each prospective juror will be given a question sheet seeking personal background information. Each prospective juror will be asked to give the requested information and the court (or the attorneys) will follow up with any supplemental voir dire questions that the court has approved. Following the voir dire examination of the entire panel, counsel will be given an opportunity to exercise challenges outside the presence of the prospective jurors. Cause challenges will be entertained first. Then the parties will take turns exercising peremptory challenges, beginning with the plaintiff. When the parties have exhausted their challenges to the prospective panel, the challenged persons will be excused and, if necessary, additional prospective jurors seated. Once a prospective juror or group of prospective jurors is passed, counsel will not be permitted to challenge such persons.

Once a jury is selected and sworn, the court will give preliminary instructions. Before the trial, counsel is encouraged to visit Judge Gottschall's website and print copies of (1) the court's introductory statement to the venire; (2) the personal information questionnaire; and (3) the court's preliminary instructions. Objections to these materials will be considered on the morning of trial before the prospective jury is brought into the courtroom.

Important Note: Ten days before the start of trial, counsel are required to provide the court with the following materials: (1) each party's proposed list of voir dire questions to supplement the Juror Question Sheet; (2) a brief, agreed statement of the case to read to the venire; (3) a list of all parties, witnesses and involved parties to screen potential jurors who may have familiarity with individuals who will be involved in the case; (4) a list of counsel who will be participating in the case and any other persons who will be seated at counsel table. To the extent that the required lists of parties and witnesses and counsel cannot be fully prepared ten days in advance, they may be supplemented on the day of trial.

October 1, 1999