MSBA Provides Resources to Prepare the Profession for Maryland’s Expanded Voir Dire Pilot Program
BY BOB BERSHAD, ESQ.
Courts across the country are considering and implementing reforms designed to improve fairness and reduce bias in the jury selection process. In January 2025, the Maryland Judiciary began implementing a Pilot Program for Expanded Voir Dire, pursuant to Rule 16-310, as part of an overall review and reform of the jury selection process.
The purpose of the pilot program includes gathering information and experience that may be used to:
1. Study the effects of expanded voir dire on the effectiveness and efficiency of jury selection, case management, juror satisfaction, public perception of the trial process, court operations, and related concerns;
2. Develop guidance and education to assist courts, attorneys, and litigants in the implementation of expanded voir dire statewide; and
3. Inform efforts of the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure and the Supreme Court to consider whether amendments to Rules 2-512 and 4-312 are appropriate.
MSBA has been engaged in the process through participation and comments to the Maryland Judiciary’s Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and to the Supreme Court of Maryland, the re-establishment of MSBA’s Special Committee on Voir Dire to provide updated model voir dire questions, and participation in the Judiciary’s Pilot Program Advisory Board.
The Pilot Program with expanded voir dire will cover eight Maryland circuit courts as a representative sample. MSBA will continue to update members on the Pilot Program and its impact on your practice, given this significant update to the jury selection process through the Program.
Pilot Jurisdictions and Judges Twenty-two (22) judges from eight (8) jurisdictions will participate in the expanded Voir Dire Pilot Program:
Allegany County: Judge Jeffrey Getty
Anne Arundel County: Judge Pamela Alban, Judge Michael Malone, Judge Robert Thompson
Baltimore City: Judge Troy Hill, Judge Jeannie Hong, Judge Lynn Stewart Mays, Judge Jennifer Schiffer, Judge Martin Schreiber, Judge Hope Tipton
MSBA’s Updated Model Voir Dire Questions
MSBA’s Special Committee on Voir Dire provides updated model voir dire questions in response to a request from the Maryland Judiciary’s Pilot Program Advisory Board. The questions are not intended to be exhaustive, exclusive, or compulsory. Rather, they are designed to assist those participating in the Pilot Program to implement the use of expanded voir dire.
The resource is divided into updated questions for criminal and civil trials, followed by a new section with examples of expanded voir dire questions about implicit bias, damages (civil), jury verdicts, legal system experience, and personal background. MSBA’s Special Committee on Voir Dire will remain active during the Pilot Program and will continue to provide updated versions of questions on the page. Maryland attorneys are encouraged to submit suggestions for additional updates or questions to feedback@msba.org.
Maryland Judiciary Resources
The Maryland Judiciary created a Maryland Attorney Packet with instructions to attorneys with cases in the Pilot Program, including a menu of types of expanded voir dire available to pilot judges for the jury selection process. A copy has also been sent to the pilot judges, who may use
MSBA has been engaged in the process through participation and comments to the Maryland Judiciary’s Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and to the Supreme Court of Maryland, the re-establishment of MSBA’s Special Committee on Voir Dire to provide updated model voir dire questions, and participation in the Judiciary’s Pilot Program Advisory Board.
Carroll County: Judge Maria Oesterreicher, Judge Richard Titus
Cecil County: Judge Cameron A. Brown
Charles County: Judge Makeba Gibbs, Judge William Greer
Montgomery County: Judge Sharon Burrell, Judge Jill Cummins, Judge David Lease, Judge John Maloney, Judge Michael McAuliffe, Judge Margaret Schweitzer
Worcester County: Judge Brian Shockley
MSBA Voir Dire Page and Updated Model Voir Dire Questions
MSBA has created a Voir Dire Resource and Insights Page for the legal profession to access relevant resources and updates about the Pilot Program. MSBA will share updates on the Pilot Program and additional reforms there, including the following:
any of the listed styles or a combination of styles during voir dire. These include:
1. Traditional voir dire with additional questions for the intelligent exercise of peremptory strikes;
2. Individual juror voir dire at the bench or outside the trial courtroom, i.e., a conference room, or another courtroom if available;
3. Attorney-led voir dire of a panel;
4. Questionnaires; and
5. Limited opening remarks before the beginning of voir dire.
The packet also includes a list of pilot jurisdictions and pilot judges, as well as survey questions for attorneys to complete at the end of each jury selection for data collection and feedback to the Pilot Program Advisory Board through June 2025.