Warner Robins, GA
Before any evidence is heard, a North Carolina injury case is partly decided by who sits on the jury. The peremptory challenge is one of the few tools each side has to shape that panel.
Also called: peremptory strike
Jury selection starts with a pool of strangers. Lawyers question them, and then each side removes some. A challenge for cause requires a legal reason, such as a juror who has a suit pending in the same court or cannot be fair. A peremptory challenge needs no reason at all, and that is both its value and its limit: each side gets only a fixed number.
In an injury case where the jury will weigh fault under North Carolina’s contributory negligence rule, the strikes matter. Joshua E. Palmer, Attorney at Law approaches jury selection as a way to find fair-minded people and to avoid those whose attitudes would make a plaintiff’s case harder than it should be. This page explains what a peremptory challenge is, how many each side gets in a North Carolina civil trial, how it differs from a challenge for cause, and what limits apply.
It is an objection to a prospective juror that the lawyer does not have to explain. After the panel is questioned, each side may strike jurors it prefers not to have on the case. The judge excuses the struck juror, another is called, and the process repeats until a full jury is seated.
The strike is a judgment call based on what the questioning revealed: a juror’s job, a past lawsuit, a comment about injury cases, or just a feeling about how the person would weigh the evidence. Lawyers treat each peremptory challenge as a limited resource and spend it on the jurors who worry them most.
Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 9-19 the parties or their counsel may challenge peremptorily eight jurors in a civil case, without showing any cause, and the court must allow the challenges. If the judge seats alternate jurors, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 9-18 entitles each party to two additional peremptory challenges for each alternate, on top of any unused challenges left from selecting the regular panel.
Challenges for cause are not limited in number. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 9-15 lets the court and any party or counsel question prospective jurors directly, and a civil juror who has a suit pending and at issue in that same court may be challenged for cause. The judge decides whether the reason offered is sufficient. If it is not, the lawyer can still use a peremptory strike, which is one reason peremptory challenges are often spent on jurors the court would not excuse.
| Feature | Peremptory challenge | Challenge for cause |
|---|---|---|
| Reason required | No | Yes: a legal reason such as bias or a pending suit |
| Number allowed | Eight per side under § 9-19, plus two per alternate under § 9-18 | No fixed limit |
| Who decides | Allowed by the court as of right | The judge rules on the reason |
| Typical use | Juror seems unfavorable but not disqualified | Juror admits bias or cannot be fair |
Peremptory strikes may not be based on race or sex; North Carolina courts generally enforce those constitutional limits if they are raised during selection.
Because the jury is not just a neutral instrument; it is a group of people with attitudes about lawsuits, insurance, and personal responsibility. In a state where a single finding of contributory negligence can end a plaintiff’s recovery, a juror inclined to blame injured people is a risk. Questioning during voir dire is the chance to surface that attitude, and the peremptory strike is the way to act on it when the juror will not admit to bias.
A worked example: in a Fayetteville trial the plaintiff’s lawyer asks the panel whether anyone believes people who sue after a crash are looking for a payday. One prospective juror hesitates and then says that anyone hurt in an accident should have been more careful. The judge does not find a basis for excusing him for cause, because he says he will follow the law. The plaintiff’s lawyer uses one of eight peremptory challenges to remove him. The choice cost nothing but a strike, and it kept an unfavorable view of the contributory negligence question out of the jury room.
The number is fixed, and the strikes must be used during selection. Once the jury is sworn, the chance to strike is over. A lawyer who runs out of peremptory challenges has to live with the remaining jurors unless a juror can be removed for cause.
The challenge is also not a license to discriminate. Constitutional rules bar striking a juror because of race or sex, and North Carolina courts generally require a party who suspects that to raise it while the jury is being picked so the judge can inquire. Beyond those limits, the strike is discretionary. If you have a jury trial scheduled, ask your lawyer how the strikes will be used and what you should say, or not say, in the courtroom.
Joshua E. Palmer
Managing Partner · Joshua E. Palmer, Attorney at Law
Attorney Palmer concentrates in personal injury law and trained in North Carolina law at North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham. This glossary explains the terms he uses with clients every day, in plain English and with the North Carolina rule that applies.
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Responsible attorney: Joshua E. Palmer, Managing Partner · 106 Moran Dr #5106, Bonaire, GA 31005 · (478) 887-3734. Attorney advertising. This page is general legal information about North Carolina law, not legal advice for your situation; contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship.
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