"I recently tried a high profile federal criminal case of national significance. We achieved victory with an acquittal on all charges. I was reluctant at first to bring on a jury consultant, having heard too many stories about consultants who just impede the process. I experienced the opposite with Carolyn: She quickly grasped the case's complexities and provided me with invaluable assistance. She helped us put together a terrific mock trial and gave us the clarity we needed to identify our most difficult potential jurors. Before the mock trial, the court had approved of the actual questionnaire (containing over 150 questions) that would be completed by prospective jurors. Carolyn used the mock trial to test questionnaire subject areas, thereby enablying her to isolate important issues and to probe ptoential juror mindsets. This undertaking provided us wiht meaningful sets of juror profiles which I used to great advantage during the pre-trial voir dire process. Carolyn assempled these profiles in a format that rendered them comprehensive and accessible. In the high speed and vastly important exercise of a federal criminal trial jury selection, where accuracy, preparation and poise are essential, I was able to rely on Carolyn's materials to provide the right information at the right time. I know we manifestly acheived our objective of a fair, objective, impartial, and insightful jury by virture of Carolyn's highly effective assistance, and I enthusiastically endorse her abilitites, insights, preparation and talent." William M. Sullivan, Jr., Partner, Winston & Strawn, LLP, Washington, D.C.
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When is the right time to conduct jury research? |
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Lawyers often wait until the eve of trial to test out their case but a much more effective approach is to get lay-person's feedback as soon as you are seriously contemplating taking a case or defending a potential claim. We literally help lawyers from Day 1: Assessing the potential of a claim; assessing the strategy of filing the claim first or filing the counterclaim; Attitude Surveys to test out lay persons' reactions to liability theories and fact scenarios; Discovery Focus Groups for gauging case strengths and weaknesses and identifying the most important witnesses to depose. Jury research is far more effective and cost-efficient when done early on, before litigants spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on depositions and experts, not after. Early research can almost always short-circuit the litigation process. This either leads to early, reasonable settlements or it clariies when it makes sense to hunker down for the long battle.
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What is the advantage to working with a small consulting company? |
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The main advantages are expertise, flexibility, efficiency and accountability. Expertise: When you retain Jury Solutions, LLC, your case will not be handed off to an associate just learning the craft. Only the most experienced personnel will work with you from project inception to completion, providing you with the right answer 100% of the time. Flexibility: If you need to work around the clock the weekend before the mock trial, we’ll be there with you. If you need to reach someone at 10:00 p.m., you’ll be able to. If you need to plan a project last-minute (whlie we don't encourage it!) we can almost always help you. Why? Because we can turn on a dime. Most important, when you need your research results fast, we can give you immediate feedback after a project. Efficiency: We don't waste time or money. We give you a professional product you can rely on, without padding it with fluff. Accountability: We market ourselves by word of mouth. Reputation is everything. That's why we go the extra mile with every project.
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Confidentiality concerns: How do you maintain confidentiality when sharing information with mock jurors? |
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Confidentiality is always a concern and this underscores the advantage of working with a smaller company where the lead trial consultant is a bar-admitted attorney.
- First, our contracts are between a bar-admitted “legal consultant” and the attorney/law firm of record for the case. This provides clients with easy proof that the work product produced in indeed protected by the privilege.
- Second, we do our own recruiting of mock jurors. When mock juror recruitment is delegated to a market research firm (as so many trial consulting firms do), you can be sure that the person doing the recruiting won’t know all the “ins and outs” of your case. As a result, they won’t be able to probe in the ways necessary to protect confidentiality. We interview every prospective mock juror ourselves. This enables us to eliminate jurors who - for whatever reason - we don’t trust. At the same time, our personal touch allows us to connect with the mock jurors who are selected for the project, gaining their trust and cooperation. Not only does this result in smooth projects (high quality jurors who show up on time and give it their all) but it also creates the good will needed to ensure jurors will honor the written confidentiality agreements that they sign.
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How predictive are mock trial/focus group results? How often do these results correspond to actual case outcome? |
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This is truly a “frequently asked question” but any answer based on statistics is inherently misleading because an actual trial will always be quite different from a simulation. The best way to think about a mock trial is that it is a research project, not a trial replica. Mock trials aren’t capable of predicting the future. However, when done correctly (well-balanced presentations that don’t sugarcoat the facts; mock jurors who are properly screened for disqualifying biases), mock trials will always reveal the following:
- In a complex case with multiple issues, which issues resonate most strongly with jurors.
- Whether or not the case contains issues that are powerful enough to unite jurors either in victory or defeat;
- The kinds of dollar values jurors attach to the legal claims;
- Jurors’ reactions to key evidence whether photos, videotapes, actual witnesses, or documents.
Obtaining feedback on the above issues is what gives attorneys the leverage they need to maximize their settlement opportunities, or present the best possible arguments at trial. Most people anecdotally report that mock trials help them get the most out of their case but no doubt, there are people out there who’ve had the opposite experience, which may be related to sloppy research or fluke occurrences at trial.
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