Paula Hannaford-Agor | NCSC.org

Paula L. Hannaford-Agor, the Director of the Center for Jury Studies, joined the Research Division of the National Center in May 1993. In this capacity, she regularly conducts research and provides technical assistance and education to courts and court personnel on the topics of jury system management and trial procedure; civil litigation; and complex and mass tort litigation.

Specific research efforts include:

• A pilot test of jury instructions intended to reduce the impact of implicit bias on juror decision-making;
• Development of a judicial curriculum on preventing and addressing Internet-related juror misconduct;
• A series of case studies of summary jury trial programs in six jurisdictions;
• A pilot study of juror and jury use of new media;
• A study of juror utilization in the Superior Courts of California;
• Development of the Jury Managers’ Toolbox, an online diagnostic tool to help court administrators, administrative judges, and jury managers evaluate the effectiveness of their jury operations;
• A national survey of judges, lawyers, and jury managers on existing jury improvement efforts;
• A national study of civil bench and jury trials in 46 large, urban courts in 2001;
• A multi-site examination of the frequency and causes of hung juries in felony cases;
• An analysis of judicial removal of jurors for cause and attorney use of peremptory challenges in the Superior Courts of California;
• A compilation of innovations in jury management technology; and
• An evaluation of the impact of Arizona Civil Rule 39(f) permitting jurors in civil cases to discuss the evidence among themselves.

She has authored or contributed to numerous books and articles on the American jury including Jury Trial Innovations (2d ed. 2006), The Promise and Challenges of Jury System Technology (NCSC 2003), and Managing Notorious Trials (1998).  She is faculty for the ICM courses Jury System Management and Promise and Challenges of Jury System Technology.  As adjunct faculty at William & MaryLawSchool, she teaches a seminar on the American jury.

Ms. Hannaford-Agor received the 2001 NCSC Staff Award for Excellence.  In 1995, she received her law degree from William & MaryLawSchool and a Masters degree in Public Policy from the Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy of the College of William and Mary.

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