Attorney Mary Alexander Authored an Article for CAOC’s Forum Discussing Voir Dire in Public Property Roadway Cases

California’s roads are driven by tens of millions of people everyday. Some of those roads, highways, freeways and streets are considered to be in a “dangerous condition” even when the weather is perfect and the driver is all alone. Litigating such cases can be difficult, and helping a jury understand the grading of a road, angle of an overpass or difficulty in seeing a crosswalk isn’t easy.

Mary Alexander of Mary Alexander and Associates P.C., authored an article for CAOC’s Forum magazine discussing how to approach voir dire in such cases. In the article Mary delves into questions to aid in identifying jurors with the greatest bias in favor of a public entity that can help challenge a juror for cause.

Some examples of questions Mary poses to jurors for this very purpose include:

• “Do you have any feelings or thoughts about holding a public entity responsible for damages when some other person was also a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff’s harm?”
• “Some people believe lawsuits against public entities are a good way to hold them accountable for their actions. Others believe lawsuits do little good and only drive-up costs for us all. How do you feel?”

These questions are impactful in finding a bias from potential jurors and eliminating it from taking place within the courtroom.

You can find the article here.