(a) Juries. All juries for the District are drawn and convene as directed by the Court.
(b) Voir Dire Examination. All voir dire examinations of prospective jurors will be conducted by the
Judge alone, unless an exception to this rule is made by the presiding Judge. Counsel may
submit in advance, in writing, questions to be asked upon such examination and may supplement
this by oral request at side bar when necessary.
(c) Argument of Law to Jury Prohibited. In the argument of any case to a jury, counsel shall not
read to the jury from any legal textbook or reported case, instruct the jury on any matter of law, or
argue law to the jury.
(d) Contacting Prospective Jurors and Jurors Before and During Trial.
(1) A lawyer shall not knowingly communicate, either directly or through another, with a juror
or prospective juror unless authorized to do so by law or court order, upon good cause
shown. 1
(2) A lawyer may not, either personally or through another, send an access request to a juror
or prospective juror through any electronic social media. An access request is a
communication to a juror seeking access to a juror or prospective juror’s social media for
the purpose of obtaining information about a juror or potential juror which the juror or
potential juror has not made public or that would be the type of ex parte communication
prohibited by subsection (1) of this local rule. 2
(3) Unless otherwise limited by law, court order, or subsections (1) and (2) of this local rule,
a lawyer may review, in advance of or during a trial, a juror’s or prospective juror’s public
Internet presence. “Internet presence” includes but is not limited to postings by the juror
or prospective juror on electronic social media that are publicly available and that do not
require an access request. 3
(4) In the course of reviewing a juror’s or potential juror’s Internet presence, if a lawyer
discovers evidence of juror or potential juror misconduct, the lawyer must disclose the
misconduct or potential misconduct to the court as soon as possible. 4
(e) Interviewing Jurors After Trial
(1) No party or their attorney shall, personally or through another person, contact, interview,
examine, or question any juror or alternate, except on leave of court granted upon good
cause shown. If a party believes in good faith that grounds for legal challenge to a verdict
1 This is drawn from the Louisiana Rule of Professional Conduct 3.5(b), ABA Model Rule 3.5(b) and ABA Formal
Opinion 466.
2 This is drawn verbatim from ABA Formal Opinion 466 except that “subsection (1) of this local rule” replaces
“Model Rule 3.5(b).”
3 This is drawn from ABA Formal Opinion 466. See also Jan L. Jacobowitz and John G. Browning, Legal Ethics
and Social Media, A Practitioner’s Handbook, American Bar Association, 2017, at 96. (“[R]esearching the social
media of prospective jurors, and continuing to monitor social media activity during trial, can be vital to seating an
honest, unbiased jury, and to ensuring that any online misconduct is promptly brought to the court’s attention.”)
One writer has suggested that “it is not only permissible for lawyers to research jurors before and during trial
using social media according to currently existing professional standards, but they may have an ethical obligation
to do so.” Jessica L. Boylan, “Jury Duty”: The Ethical Obligations of Attorneys Researching Jurors Using Social
Media Technology, 29 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 867, 869 (2016).
4 This is drawn from ABA Formal Opinion 466.
exist, he may move for an order permitting an interview of a juror or jurors to determine
whether the verdict is subject to challenge. 5
(2) No juror has any obligation to speak to any person about any case and may refuse all
interviews or comments;
(3) No person may make repeated requests for interviews or questions after a juror has
expressed the desire not to be interviewed;
(4) No juror or alternate who consents to be interviewed may disclose any information with
respect to the following:
(A) The specific vote of any juror other than the juror being interviewed;
(B) The deliberations of the jury; or
(C) Evidence of improprieties in the jury's deliberation.
