"Voir dire is the scariest thing to do for a lawyer," Dan Kramer says as he reflects on the first year of “Picking Justice” with co-host Harry Plotkin. This special episode celebrates a year of exceptional guests: Ibiere Seck, Ricardo Echeverria, Steve Vartazarian, Gary Dordick, Claire Plotkin, Arash Homampou, Joe Fried, Bob Simon, Lourdes DeArmas, Khail Parris, David Ball, Randi McGinn, Craig Peters, Kurt Zaner, Pat Salvi, Sean Claggett, Kathleen Nastri, Rahul Ravipudi, and Mike Alder. Tune in for their insights about everything from biases, questionnaires, and creating authentic courtroom connections.

☑️ Ibiere Seck | LinkedIn | Instagram | X | Facebook

☑️ Ricardo Echeverria I LinkedIn

☑️ Steve Vartazarian | LinkedIn

☑️ Gary Dordick | LinkedIn | Instagram

☑️ Claire Plotkin | LinkedIn | X

☑️ Arash Homampour | LinkedIn

☑️ Joe Fried | LinkedIn

☑️ Bob Simon | LinkedIn | X | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Attorney Robert Simon

☑️ Lourdes DeArmas | LinkedIn

☑️ Khail Parris | LinkedIn

☑️ David Ball | LinkedIn

☑️ Randi McGinn | LinkedIn

☑️ Craig Peters | LinkedIn

☑️ Kurt Zaner | LinkedIn

☑️ Pat Salvi | LinkedIn | Instagram

☑️ Sean Claggett | LinkedIn | Instagram

☑️ Kathleen Nastri | LinkedIn | Instagram | X

☑️ Rahul Ravipudi | LinkedIn | Instagram

☑️ Mike Alder | LinkedIn | Email | Instagram | YouTube 

☑️ Harry Plotkin | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

☑️ Dan Kramer  | LinkedIn 

☑️ Kramer Trial Lawyers on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

☑️ Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Produced and Powered by LawPods

Episode sponsored by Baldwin Settlements and Verdict Videos.

After completing nine trials earlier this year, Mike Alder describes lessons learned about jury selection with hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer. Tune in for his insights about how being practiced makes you conversational rather than aggressive, why he starts with easy questions before diving into hot-button issues, and how asking "I need your help" invites jurors to participate authentically in the selection process.

☑️ Mike Alder | LinkedIn | Email | Instagram | YouTube | Telephone 

☑️ AlderLaw on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram

☑️ Harry Plotkin | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

☑️ Dan Kramer  | LinkedIn 

☑️ Kramer Trial Lawyers on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

☑️ Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Produced and Powered by LawPods

Episode sponsored by Baldwin Settlements and Verdict Videos.

“You've gotten just tons of jurors off for cause, but you do it in the most polite way,” host Harry Plotkin says of longtime friend Rahul Ravipudi, who stops by “Picking Justice” to share his philosophy of voir dire that has helped him secure eight- and nine-figure verdicts. As Rahul explains to Harry and co-host Dan Kramer, his core philosophy is to stick with one voir dire approach. His is identifying juror biases and guiding biased jurors to excuse themselves for cause “or at least allow me to get the cause challenge established.” Tune in for Rahul’s insights about breaking the ice, handling jurors with misunderstandings about case facts, and determining when to announce damages numbers during mini-openings.

☑️ Rahul Ravipudi | LinkedIn | Instagram

☑️ Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

☑️ Harry Plotkin | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

☑️ Dan Kramer  | LinkedIn 

☑️ Kramer Trial Lawyers on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

☑️ Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Produced and Powered by LawPods

Episode sponsored by Baldwin Settlements and Verdict Videos.

Picture your voir dire happening in a private room where it’s just you and the potential juror. It’s called “individual sequestered voir dire,” it’s guaranteed in Connecticut’s constitution, and it’s an approach that Kathleen Nastri has mastered – as evidenced by her $58 million med-mal verdict, a state record. It can be exhausting, she admits. It can be like speed dating. But it reflects the importance that the state places on the right to a trial with a fair jury. In this conversation with hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer, Kathleen shares her strategies for breaking the ice with different jurors, her perceptions of female jurors in obstetrics cases, and her concerns about people who seem too eager to serve.

☑️ Kathleen Nastri | LinkedIn | Instagram | X

☑️ Koskoff | LinkedIn | Facebook | X

☑️ Harry Plotkin | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

☑️ Dan Kramer  | LinkedIn 

☑️ Kramer Trial Lawyers on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

☑️ Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Produced and Powered by LawPods

Episode sponsored by Baldwin Settlements and Verdict Videos.

“It is shocking how many times lawyers undervalue their cases,” says Sean Claggett, a pioneer in the use of big data and co-author of “JuryBall.” Coming off a $145 million workers' compensation bad faith verdict in Colorado – where a mediator told him, “Colorado juries don’t give the type of verdicts you’re talking about” – Sean shares how he uses big data and focus groups to determine true case value. In this conversation with hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer, he explains why anchoring themes early matters more than anchoring numbers and why conservative jurors can deliver the biggest verdicts when you push the right buttons. And he recaps what that mediator discovered: Colorado juries do give those verdicts.

☑️ Sean Claggett | LinkedIn | Instagram

☑️ Claggett & Sykes | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X

☑️ Harry Plotkin | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

☑️ Dan Kramer  | LinkedIn 

☑️ Kramer Trial Lawyers on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

☑️ Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Produced and Powered by LawPods

Episode sponsored by Baldwin Settlements and Verdict Videos.

Everyone loves doctors. Pat Salvi’s firm sues them. When you know how to pick a good jury, he says, you can overcome the inherent likability factor. In this conversation with hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer, Pat reveals his strategies, starting with how he makes a connection with potential jurors. Tune in for his tips on exposing juror bias and focusing jurors on a doctor’s behavior, not personality. “It’s not about whether he's a good doctor or a nice guy,” he tells them. “It's whether or not he was reasonably careful under these circumstances.”

☑️ Pat Salvi | LinkedIn | Instagram

☑️ Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X | YouTube | TikTok

☑️ Harry Plotkin | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

☑️ Dan Kramer  | LinkedIn 

☑️ Kramer Trial Lawyers on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

☑️ Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Produced and Powered by LawPods

Episode sponsored by Baldwin Settlements and Verdict Videos.

In Colorado, Kurt Zaner typically has 15 to 30 minutes for voir dire, so he makes every minute count. In this conversation with hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer, he explains how. “Even though you’ve got 15 minutes, the big points for me: I want to build a little rapport. I want them to trust me. I want them to feel empowered,” he says. From memorizing juror names to building credibility before discussing damages, Kurt describes strategies that he’s leveraged to secure victories like his $16 million premises liability verdict in Colorado, the state’s largest. 

☑️ Kurt Zaner | LinkedIn

☑️ Zaner Law | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok

☑️ Harry Plotkin | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

☑️ Dan Kramer  | LinkedIn 

☑️ Kramer Trial Lawyers on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

☑️ Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Produced and Powered by LawPods

Episode sponsored by Baldwin Settlements and Verdict Videos.

As a public defender, Craig Peters focused his voir dire on getting jurors to assure him they’d follow the law. Turns out that jurors can promise they’ll follow the law; it doesn’t mean they will. Now one of California's leading plaintiffs' trial attorneys with multiple eight-figure verdicts, Craig joins hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer to share what he’s learned about jury selection from practicing on both sides. He advocates, for example, for the opportunity to voir dire the entire jury panel rather than the traditional six-pack. “You're one of the only attorneys who I think I've talked to who actually is pushing this, to judges, to do the whole panel,” Dan observes. Tune in for Craig’s insights about why this strategy benefits jurors as well as lawyers, how to embrace bad facts in mini-openings, and why addressing juror biases head-on creates powerful courtroom themes.

☑️ Craig Peters | LinkedIn

☑️ Altair Law | LinkedIn | Facebook | X

☑️ Harry Plotkin | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram 

☑️ Dan Kramer  | LinkedIn 

☑️ Kramer Trial Lawyers on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

☑️ Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Produced and Powered by LawPods

Episode sponsored by Tisa Film and Baldwin Settlements.

"Has anyone here suffered profound grief?" Randi McGinn began asking jurors that question, particularly in wrongful death cases, after she suffered a personal loss. “It made me realize that people who've experienced that would be wonderful jurors,” she tells hosts Harry Plotkin and Dan Kramer. As she explains, savvy plaintiffs’ lawyers should identify jurors who have experienced grief and who can share their experience with other jurors. The first female president of the Inner Circle of Advocates, founding partner of McGinn Montoya Love Curry & Sievers, and author of “Changing Laws Saving Lives,” Randi reveals this and other jury selection strategies that have helped her secure nine-figure verdicts.

☑️ Randi McGinn | LinkedIn

☑️ McGinn Montoya Love Curry & Sievers | LinkedIn | Facebook | X

☑️ Harry Plotkin | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

☑️ Dan Kramer  | LinkedIn 

☑️ Kramer Trial Lawyers on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

☑️ Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Produced and Powered by LawPods

Episode sponsored by Tisa Film and Baldwin Settlements.

Twenty minutes to voir dire 35 jurors? “Hey, what’s your favorite ice cream? OK; I ran out of time.” That’s how host and jury consultant Harry Plotkin describes the challenging scenario – one of his favorite things to teach because “it can be done.” Host Dan Kramer, who soon goes to trial with Harry under these very rules, guides this discussion about how it can be done. Harry explains how he prioritizes individual questions over group questions to ensure that every juror is heard rather than focusing solely on cause challenges. He also outlines the top two or three questions he’d ask, depending on the type of case, and tips for spotting an “angry juror.” 

☑️ Harry Plotkin | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

☑️ Dan Kramer  | LinkedIn 

☑️ Kramer Trial Lawyers on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

☑️ Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Produced and Powered by LawPods

Episode sponsored by Tisa Film and Baldwin Settlements.