Before a North Carolina jury hears a word of evidence, the lawyers get to question the people who might sit on it. That process is voir dire, and it can decide a case.
Also called: jury selection, juror examination
Voir dire, usually pronounced “vwahr deer,” comes from old law French and is commonly translated as “to speak the truth.” It names the questioning that turns a room of citizens summoned for jury duty into the jury that will decide a case. Prospective jurors answer under oath about their backgrounds, their experiences, and their attitudes so that the court and the parties can identify anyone who cannot be impartial.
The term has a second meaning as well: a short examination of a witness, outside the main testimony, to test whether the witness is qualified or whether a piece of evidence should come in. Joshua E. Palmer, Attorney at Law tries injury cases to North Carolina juries, and this page explains both meanings, the North Carolina statutes that govern jury selection in civil cases, and why the people chosen matter so much in a contributory negligence state.
Voir dire is jury selection by questioning. A group of prospective jurors is called from the larger pool, placed under oath, and asked questions. Some come from the judge: do you know the parties, the lawyers, or the witnesses? Have you heard about this case? The rest come from the lawyers, who ask about jobs, families, prior injuries and lawsuits, experience with insurance claims, and opinions about people who sue.
The purpose is not to find jurors who favor one side. It is to find and excuse jurors who cannot be fair to one side: the person whose spouse adjusts insurance claims, the person who believes nobody should ever sue, the person who was badly hurt in a similar crash and cannot set that aside. Honest answers matter more than polite ones, and good lawyers say so at the start.
North Carolina gives the lawyers a direct role. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 9-15, the court and any party or the party’s counsel must be allowed to make direct oral inquiry of any prospective juror about fitness and competency to serve, and asking a question is not treated as a challenge. A juror may then be challenged for cause when the answers show the juror cannot be impartial or is otherwise disqualified. The statute gives one specific civil example, a juror with a suit of their own pending and at issue in the same court, and the presiding judge decides all questions of juror competency.
Each side also receives peremptory challenges, which remove a juror without stating a reason. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 9-19 allows the parties in a civil case to challenge eight jurors peremptorily, and when alternate jurors are seated, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 9-18 adds two peremptory challenges for each alternate. Jury selection in an injury case usually takes part of a day.
| Challenge for cause | Peremptory challenge | |
|---|---|---|
| Reason required | Yes: the juror cannot be fair or is disqualified | No reason has to be given |
| Who decides | The presiding judge | The party making the challenge |
| How many | No fixed number | Eight in a civil case, plus two for each alternate juror |
| Statute | § 9-15 | § 9-19 and § 9-18 |
Summary of the civil rules. Criminal jury selection follows different statutes, and cases with several parties can raise additional questions.
Because the jury will be asked a question most states no longer ask. In North Carolina the jury decides whether the defendant was negligent and then, if the defense raises it, whether the plaintiff’s own negligence contributed to the injury. A yes on that second question ends the case with nothing for the plaintiff, however careless the defendant was. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-139 the defendant has the burden of proving contributory negligence, and voir dire is the plaintiff’s only chance to learn which prospective jurors are inclined to blame an injured person for small mistakes, and which will hold the defense to its burden.
Voir dire also surfaces attitudes that never appear in evidence: distrust of lawsuits, discomfort with awarding money for pain, strong feelings about motorcycles or trucks. Some subjects are off limits. The jury is not told about the statutory cap on punitive damages, and whether a defendant has liability insurance is generally kept from jurors. Jurors are asked instead about their own connections to the insurance industry.
The same phrase describes a brief examination of a witness, often outside the jury’s hearing, to settle a preliminary question. The most common example is an expert. Before a doctor or an accident reconstructionist gives opinions, the opposing lawyer may ask to voir dire the witness on training, experience, and methods, and the judge then rules on whether the witness qualifies under N.C. R. Evid. 702. A judge may also allow voir dire to test whether a witness has personal knowledge or whether a document is what it claims to be.
If you are a party, your job during jury voir dire is simple: be present, be attentive, and tell your lawyer if you recognize anyone in the room. Jurors form impressions of the parties long before testimony begins.
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.
Facing a trial date, or wondering whether your North Carolina injury case should go to a jury? Call for a free consultation.
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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Each case is different. Any results, settlement figures, or benefit amounts described on this page depend on the specific facts of that case and do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in yours. Statutes and benefit rates cited are current as of October 2026; confirm current law with an attorney before relying on it.