Marjorie Russell on Inclusive Voir Dire
by: Abassos • September 19, 2010 • no comments
Marjorie Russell spoke at our office last week and blew everyone away. First, she's a really dynamic, charismatic presenter. But second, she completely flips the traditional thinking on what voir dire should be. The title of her talk and of the second article below is "How to Use Action Methods and Inclusion to Form a Tribe the DA can Neither Join nor Defeat." Most of us pick juries. We don't forge a group identity with the jury. It's a completely different metaphor for being a defense attorney.
Marjorie Russell is a national speaker on trial skills. She's a faculty member of Gerry Spence's trial college and the chair of the Practice, Advocacy and Litigation Skills department at Cooley Law School in Michigan. She was recently a co-recipient of a prominent award in Florida for her work with Kifah Wael Jayyousi, co-defendant of accused "dirty bomber" Jose Padilla. The award is given "for showing exemplary effort in representation of an unpopular cause, epitomizing the courage of liberty's last champion."
The materials that go along with the presentation are attached below the videos. My apologies for the poor camera work in the first two and a half minutes - I wasn't prepared for the force of nature that is Marjorie Russell:
