From what we’ve seen in our many years of researching jurors and assisting trial teams, there are two main types of final work product a client can receive from a jury consultant after a mock trial or focus group project:… Read More
Blog
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What’s the Best Presentation Software for Presenting Documents at Trial?
We often get questions about what presentation software to use for presenting documents at hearings, arbitrations, and trial. As is so often the case, using the tool best suited for the situation can really make a difference in the outcome… Read More
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4 Realities of Using Graphics in Trial (According to a Great Trial Attorney)
At Litigation Insights, we’ve had decades to work with trial graphics and technology. But ours is an assisting role; we experience the world of trial graphics from one side – the consultant’s. As such, we wanted to learn more about… Read More
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How to Counteract the Anchoring Effects of a Plaintiff’s Damages Request
Question: How did the jury arrive at the decision to award the plaintiff $20 million in damages? Actual Juror #1: We came up with a percentage approach, and that’s what we all discussed. We started with what she was asking for… Read More
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Community Attitude Survey vs. Change of Venue Survey: When Should Each Be Used?
When it comes to understanding jurors, each case an attorney tries presents a whole new set of unknowns. What do these jurors think about local employers, large corporations, or pharmaceutical safety? How do jurors in, say, the Central District of… Read More
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What Trial Graphics Belong in My Closing Arguments?
Imagine this: The jury has just sat through two weeks of endless testimony with duplicative questions and answers throughout. You put together an excellent opening statement slide deck. You used effective video deposition clips and transcript pages to cross-examine your witnesses. You… Read More
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Is a Shadow Jury Worth the Risk?
Attorneys seem to be using the shadow jury (also called a “feedback jury” or “mirror jury”) less in recent years than they used to. And that’s too bad. Especially when the perceived risks of the technique are being given undue weight, scaring some clients away from one of the most vital… Read More
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How to Use Counterfactuals to Combat (or Leverage) Jurors’ Hindsight Bias
Faced with the large amount of complex information being presented to them in trial, jurors will inevitably use “heuristics” – mental shortcuts – to help them keep up. Sometimes, these shortcuts lead to perfectly reasonable judgments. Other times, they create distorted perceptions and erroneous conclusions. One problematic heuristic is known as Hindsight Bias, or… Read More
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Does Humor Have a Place in the Courtroom?
Humor is a funny thing. A joke that works so well out of one person’s mouth can crash and burn out of another’s. That same joke can cause hysterical laughter in one situation and groans of annoyance or gasps of affront in another. Content, person, delivery, circumstance, audience – it’s a tough… Read More
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How to Choose the Best Witness Prep Consultant
To process the extensive, complex, and often unfamiliar information heard in trial, jurors tend to rely on heuristics (mental shortcuts) to reduce their cognitive load and draw conclusions more quickly. Not all of these heuristics are problematic for your case, but some can certainly lead to hasty assumptions and false judgments. And unfortunately, assessing… Read More