Jury consultant Alison Bennett presented, “Strategies for the Modern Jury, ” at the SMU Law School lecture to Constitutional Law Class of Professor Meghan Ryan on February 26, 2013.
Jury consultant Jason Bloom presented Communicating with the Modern Jury” at the Advanced Trial Strategies conference, hosted by the Texas Bar CLE in New Orleans, LA.
Jury consultant Alison Bennett presented with attorneys Geff Anderson and Raven Atchison of Anderson, Riddle & Kuehler,LLP, at the NAAA Annual Convention in Savannah, GA.
How to Help Jurors Render a Favorable Decision
By Harry Jones, Jason Bloom and Emily McDonald
Texas Lawyer
September 17, 2012
The rationale for almost every jury verdict can fit on one side of a 3 x 5 notecard. “The company was not fair,” or “The plaintiff was deceptive.” Yet, lawyers spend dozens, even hundreds of hours addressing irrelevancies. The modern juror, inundated by information, craves simple truths. Here are some that trial lawyers should bear in mind.
There is no one recipe for a great trial team. Sincerity, a passion for the case, organization, consistency and a commonsense story are a good start. These low-tech attributes win cases and should remain the lawyer’s principal tools.
Attorneys should resist the urge to overuse flashy technology and graphics. Unlike the actors who play attorneys on the big screen, counsel doesn’t have the luxury of Hollywood make-up or second takes. Also, they should refuse the temptation to complicate the story.
Litigators must distill the case down to the essential facts. Counsel’s goal is clarity — in voir dire, opening statements, witness preparation and closing arguments. They should anticipate jurors’ questions; the best lawyers answer questions jurors are asking themselves.
Simplicity is key. Jurors hear what they understand; they do not understand all they hear. When polled, jurors seldom complain that lawyers made the trial too simple.
The good witness is consistent. That means his deposition testimony and his trial testimony should cohere. His verbal and nonverbal signals should agree. His emotions should remain steady throughout direct and cross-examinations. Each witness must know the case theme and deliver clear testimony to support it. This will allow counsel to show the jury how to connect the dots. Click Here To Read More
Shadow juries: Expensive but insightful tool
By Sylvia Hsieh
The Daily Record Newswire
BOSTON (Dolan Media) — During a recent med-mal trial in Pennsylvania against two doctors and a hospital over a birth injury, 12 people with similar attributes to the 12 jurors filed in and out of the observation area of the courtroom every time the actual jurors took a break during a recess, lunch break or sidebar conference. The 12 visitors were shadow jurors, chosen for their demographic similarities to the real jurors to give their detailed opinions about each day’s events to the trial lawyers.
The shadow jurors were not told — in fact great pains were taken to make sure they did not find out — which side of the dispute hired them.
Unbeknownst to the shadow jurors, the trial consultant who debriefed them each day was hired by the plaintiffs’ legal team.
“They didn’t know [for whom] they were working … but they were observing and giving feedback. Every day, they were debriefed during the lunch break, and we would receive feedback about what could be done better, how they evaluated each witness, and which defenses were stronger than others,” said Daniel Weinstock, the plaintiffs’ attorney.
How CEOs Prepare For Trial
Bloom Strategic Consulting uses mock courtrooms and “shadow juries” to help companies get ready.
For many C-level executives, the uncertain prospect of putting their company’s future in the hands of 12 strangers in a jury box is somewhat like walking into a casino with your hard-earned nest egg in hand. But what if you were walking in not with Lady Luck on your arm, but the equivalent of a card-counter?
Meet Jason Bloom and Alison Bennett of Bloom Strategic Consulting, consultants who take a scientific approach to evaluating how jurors are likely to react to a client’s case—including the evidence, theories, and witnesses.
“CEOs should ask if there is value to learning how a jury will react to the case before writing settlement checks or deciding to go to trial,” Bloom says. “Sometimes it makes economic sense to settle a case, but I’ve seen Fortune 100 companies settle for much less than they were willing to pay based on the results of mock jury testing.” Click here to read more