Building a Set of Jury Instructions
In addition to moving quickly among the instructions, the jury instruction web page is designed to support a particular work process for preparing instructions for trial. Judges and lawyers are free to use other processes.
- Check the boxes of the instructions you want to use.
- Click "Generate Document."
- Arrange the instructions in the order in which they should appear. To do this, click and drag the instruction where you want it to appear. It will drop between instructions. Repeat as needed.
- Select all text (Ctrl+A).
- Copy text (Ctrl+C).
- Open a blank document (Word, Google Doc, etc).
- Paste the text into the document (Ctrl+V).
- Search for an open bracket [ to find the minimum places in which the instructions need editing to fit the circumstances of the trial.
- Replace "he," "him," and "his" with other appropriate pronouns as the circumstances warrant.
- Edit the instructions to fit the circumstances of the trial.
- Format the document to the court's requirements.
Users can also selectively copy and paste instructions, references, and committee notes as needed.