It seems that no one is exempt from the effects of today’s economy. From the biggest corporations to the smallest law firms, all the way down to the 12 members of the jury hearing a case, everyone is feeling the… Read More
Blog
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Arguing Hardship: You Can’t Have It Both Ways
Jury selection is quickly approaching, the panel is large and the trial is scheduled to last over the course of several weeks. The judge has allowed counsel to submit a Supplemental Juror Questionnaire that contains questions regarding hardship and those… Read More
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Bias in the Courtroom, Part II: Detecting and Overcoming Implicit Bias
We have all been there during jury selection, listening to a juror tell the court that they have a bias that may prevent them from fairly considering the evidence when a judge steps in and asks the juror to “set… Read More
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Bias in the Courtroom, Part I: Implicit and Explicit Effects
With the election and inauguration of our nation’s first biracial President, some have questioned whether the United States has finally quashed its ubiquitous problems with racial bias. Though Americans have made tremendous progress in their acceptance of differences, social psychological… Read More
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PART III – Characteristics for Improving the Credibility of Your Witness: Positive Witness Characteristics
While well-credentialed witnesses’ messages can be undercut by their engagement in undesirable witness characteristics (as discussed in Part I and Part II), adopting good witness qualities can have the opposite effect: jurors are more likely to believe witnesses are telling… Read More
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PART II – Characteristics for Improving the Credibility of Your Witness: Undesirable Non-Verbal Witness Characteristics
In Part I of this series, we discussed how the ways in which witnesses answer questions and utilize speech patterns (e.g., using powerless vs. powerful speech, vocal distracters), could negatively affect jurors’ evaluations. In this issue, we explore what jurors have… Read More
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PART I – Characteristics for Improving the Credibility of Your Witness: Undesirable Verbal Witness Characteristics
What witnesses say through the course of their testimony can make or break counsel’s ability to effectively argue a case. While a witness may have excellent credentials and a persuasive message to tell, his/her display of certain undesirable characteristics can… Read More
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Going It Alone: What to Anticipate When Running Your Own Courtroom Technology
The following is based on an article published by the International Association of Defense Counsel Technology Committee in its 2008 newsletter series and co-written with Bob Manlowe, Esq. and Jenny Guidi. For full text of the article please contact Mr. Bloomberg at abloomberg@litigationinsights.com…. Read More
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Voir Dire Check List
We have all shared this experience. Jury selection is at 9:00 a.m. Monday morning. It is Sunday night and the national trial team, lead by an attorney from out of town, is meeting to discuss voir dire and jury selection. … Read More
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Court of Appeals Finds Trial Consultant Work Privileged
Over the past few years we have seen a tremendous acceptance among our client base of the value of preparing witnesses for deposition. At the same time, many of you have expressed concern regarding the discoverability of such work (and… Read More