Closing Argument: Opportunity and Challenge
Direct Examination: Looping and Bookending
Innovative Jury Strategies and the Power of Preparation — FCRA Focus Podcast
Opening Statements: Telling the Story
Openings of Openings
The Basics of Opening Statements
Effective Trial Language Part 3: Jargon
Podcast - Effective Trial Language Part 2: Legalese
Why Demonstrative Aids Are Critical in Every Case
Showing Exhibits to the Jury
Key Lessons and Takeaways for Jury Trials
Overcoming Safetyism & the Plaintiff Media Machine - IMS Insights Podcast Epsiode 66
Podcast - Basic Courtroom Etiquette
Podcast - The Five Most Common Faults of Trial Lawyers
Podcast - The “Five P’s” That Will Help Shape Jurors’ Emotions
The Strategic Advantages of Working with Jury Consultants – IMS Insights Podcast Episode 56
Uncovering Juror Bias, Counteracting Nuclear Verdicts, & the Future of Massive Damages – IMS Insights Podcast Episode 47
Integrated Case Themes & Nuclear Verdict Causes – IMS Insights Podcast Episode 46
An Inside Look as a Juror - FCRA Focus Podcast
A number of years ago, innovators searching for ways to take some of the pain, delay, and difficulty out of the jury trial hit upon the idea to boil it down, rein in the discovery, simplify the rules of evidence, and try it...more
Every jury selection involves a variety of issues relating to how potential jurors could feel about the specific case. But there is one issue that is relevant in every current jury selection for an in-person trial: What is...more
With the emergence of new COVID-19 variants and vaccine hesitancy among some in the United States, a “return to normal” for in-person jury trials remains elusive. Courts that postponed jury trials until they could be held...more
The American civil jury trial was on life support before the pandemic. For a generation at least, the trend has been toward a reduced scope for a jury’s decision, an expansion in the power of judges to resolve things in...more
With mounting frustration over the duration and human cost of the Coronavirus pandemic, along with the sluggish pace of vaccinations in many parts of the country, President Joe Biden, this past week, threw down the gauntlet...more
As courts across the country begin resuming jury trials, litigators returning to in-person proceedings must be prepared for the myriad logistical considerations brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic — from mask-wearing and...more
A round table discussion with top litigators and social scientists exploring how major world events such as the COVID-19 pandemic can impact juror attitudes. History proves that major world events impact juror attitudes....more
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, we all had a sense that our country and the world were facing a potentially cataclysmic event with far-reaching, significant consequences to many aspects of our lives. As social...more
We’ve now had quite some time to settle into the coronavirus and its social restrictions. If you are like me, you might have even developed a twitch every time you hear the phrase “New normal.” We know that we are living in...more
As the new year commences and the pandemic continues, courts across the country are attempting to resume jury trials as quickly as possible, while also focusing on public health concerns. In this context, we reflect on the...more
A BigLaw civil jury trial finished yesterday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The first phase was a 12-day trial that began October 1 and concluded on October 22 with a verdict of $21 million in...more
So Donald Trump now has the coronavirus. As of press time for this blog post, he is fighting the illness from the Presidential Suite at Walter Reed Medical Center. It is news that struck many as both surprising and...more
There’s something that judges will often tell potential jurors at the start of the voir dire process: “We know jury duty is an inconvenience, but it is a necessary duty.” But what if it is more than an inconvenience? What if...more
Across the country, restaurants are changing what it means to be a restaurant, movie theaters are changing what it means to be a movie theater, and conferences are changing what it means to be a conference. So maybe it’s...more
In mid-June, Chief Judge Janet DiFiore appointed the Commission to Reimagine the Future of New York’s Courts, and charged it with examining technological, regulatory, and other long-term innovations for New York Courts. ...more
This blog is dedicated to the proposition that those like me, who want to learn all they can about effective communication and persuasion, can take lessons from almost everything. Even the worst social situations can improve...more
In courtrooms making tentative steps toward reopening to in-person jury trials, some of the parties have called for increased use of juror questionnaires, ideally filled out ahead of time either by mail or online. This makes...more
As the number of our posts on attitude changes in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic reaches double digits, astute readers will note that there are some apparent inconsistencies emerging in the reports. For example, the...more
Employers may face juries that seek to hold them responsible if an employee contracts COVID-19, the trial consulting firm Dispute Dynamics suggests in its latest study. Dispute Dynamics surveyed 321 individuals, inquiring...more
What’s Going On? The world turned upside down in 2020: fires, earthquakes, erupting volcanoes, locust swarms, escalating tensions between the United States and Iran, impeachment proceedings, the horrific death of Kobe...more
Less than a year ago, in late 2019, the pharmaceutical industry came in dead last in a favorability contest with twenty-five other industries. According to that Gallup Poll, only a little more than a quarter of the population...more
As if there weren’t enough to worry about, Los Angeles employers may face an even tougher challenge to prevail at trial in the aftermath of the Coronavirus pandemic, the trial consulting firm Dispute Dynamics suggests in its...more
Might a fear-based strategy have greater purchase in the present pandemic climate? People are certainly feeling scared and vulnerable these days. Even as states begin to relax the coronavirus stay-at-home restrictions, the...more
As our lives have shifted, so have our attitudes, and the current social context may be widening the distance between ordinary Americans and large corporations. It was never a close connection to begin with, of course, since...more
It can be helpful to think of the information that we are exposed to in the same way as we think about the food we consume: a diet. Like a diet, the information consumed is not the same for everyone, and it is not the same...more