A judge's charge to a jury is undoubtedly one of the most critical aspects of any jury trial—civil or criminal. The charge has a direct and immediate impact in guiding jurors to a verdict, and jury instructions often provide fertile grounds for claims of error on appeal.

Constructing a jury charge can be a painstaking process. It is also a tedious process, both for the judge who spends the better part of an hour delivering the instructions, and for the jurors who, at times, may find them incomprehensible. As William M. Kunstler, a well-known radical lawyer of the sixties, wrote in a poem, "The jurors, nearly nodding in their pew, Gave silent thanks when their ordeal was through."