The main reason the jury system is respected is the public expects it to be unbiased.

United States Supreme Court Justice John Marshal

The Jury Bias Model™ Techniques

Our team uses the Jury Bias Model™ to evaluate data gathered using various litigation research techniques:

• Pre-trial Services:
  • Focus groups;
  • Mock trials;
  • Juror profile surveys;
  • Metaphor research;
  • Identification of mental shortcuts;
  • Graphics development;
  • Brainstorming;
  • Developing talking points;
  • Writing opening statements;
  • Witness preparation;
  • Priming strategies; and
  • Developing jury selection strategies.
    
    
• Jury Selection and Voir Dire:
  • Analysis of supplemental juror questionnaires;
  • Assistance in voir dire and jury selection in court; and
  • Communication analysis.

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Should I Take This Case?

If you are considering taking a case that you know will be very expensive, we strongly suggest conducting one or two focus groups using the Jury Bias Model™ to help make this crucial decision. The information you will glean from this process will be invaluable, should you take the case. Equally as important, you may save tremendous time and expense by identifying an un-winnable case before you are committed.

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Analyzing the Case for Strategy.

The Jury Bias Model™ is most effective when it is applied in the earliest stages of the litigation process, so the trial lawyer can use the model to engage in discovery, with the goal that he will be implementing the model at trial. For this reason, we recommend meeting with you for at least a one-day brainstorming session at the outset of your case. In this session or sessions, we will use the model to help develop a preliminary litigation strategy that will motivate jurors to adopt your trial story.

Our team uses the Jury Bias Model™ to evaluate data gathered using various litigation research techniques:

• Pretrial jury research.
  • Focus groups
  • Trial simulations, and
  • Juror profile surveys.
    
    
• Pretrial investigation.
• Jury selection and voir dire - juror questionnaires, in-court questioning of the venire, behavioral and non-verbal communication analysis.

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Only A Few Weeks Out From Trial?

Although the best strategy is to utilize the Jury Bias Model™ from the outset of your case, we have implemented it successfully within just weeks of trial. The Model is effective when applied in every phase of trial, so it is almost never too late to strengthen your approach.

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Focus Groups - A Systemic Approach To Trial Strategy

I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion.

Thomas Jefferson

Although we can assist you at any point during trial, focus groups are most beneficial if they are used strategically, from the inception of the case through discovery and trial preparation. We recommend conducting a focus group before any depositions are taken to help identify and evaluate issues about your case and the parties involved that will interest jurors most. This group will be designed to explore difficulties may encounter in evaluating the behavior and actions of the parties to the lawsuit.

Focus groups are invaluable litigation tools for developing a compelling case. They are as basic to trial preparation as depositions or interrogatories, and perhaps more essential. That's because focus groups enable you to test trial strategies in practice, not theory, and question participants in detail concerning their feelings about your case.

Focus groups also elicit spontaneous reactions and present an opportunity to observe group dynamics and organizational techniques used by the participants. If used correctly, they will help you position the case for settlement or trial.

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How Many Focus Groups?

ÒThe Court's only armor is the cloak of public trust; its sole ammunition, the collective hopes of our society.Ó

The Honorable Irving R. Kaufman Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit

Focus groups can minimize the impact of negative juror bias, especially when a systematic approach is used multiple times prior to trial.

Typically, one or two focus groups will be insufficient to test your case. Most lawsuits involve a multitude of issues that can sway jurors and impact trial outcomes. And most jurors walk into court with an arsenal of deep-seated attitudes that can sabotage your ability to prevail. In today's anti-plaintiff environment, conducting a series of focus groups successively throughout the pre-trial investigation period will help ensure that you are thoroughly prepared for trial.

Once the pre-trial research is complete, we can assist you with preparing the evidence to overcome jurors' inherent biases, connect with them on a personal level and persuade them to accept your trial story. The Jury Bias Model™ also can yield valuable insights when applied in later phases of trial preparation.

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Post-Trial Jury Interviews

"[The jury is] one of the principles [that] form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation."

Thomas Jefferson In his first Inaugural Address March 4, 1801

Our in-depth post-trial interviews yield valuable insights into the juror deliberation process. In short, this is when jurors reveal what they really think. Because jurors are more relaxed in a post-trial setting with a neutral third party, they are more candid about how they made their decisions; which issues and evidence drove their conclusions; identifying ineffective arguments; evaluating witnesses and trial presentations; and revealing how damages were calculated.

Post-trial jury interviews are highly informative, providing feedback that provides a blueprint for preparing for the next case with similar issues. They are a fundamental, yet often overlooked, litigation technique used by the best trial attorneys to sharpen their instincts and improve preparations for future cases.

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The First Focus Group in the series.

Before any deposition is taken, a focus group should be conducted to evaluate the issues that jurors most want to know concerning the conduct of the parties. At the trial, jurors will discuss the conduct of the parties in making judgments about who should win. The focus group will be designed to explore the difficulties jurors may encounter explaining that the parties acted reasonably. For instance, has the plaintiff behaved in a manner that jurors find unreasonable, incredible and unusual? Similarly, has the defendant behaved in a manner that jurors will find unexpected, unusual or abnormal?

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Focus Groups at Varying Points in the Case.

Focus groups should be conducted at varying points in the case.

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Psychological Aspects Of The Trial.

Once the pre-trial research is complete, we can assist you with the preparation of the psychological aspects of the trial: the development of a strategy to present the evidence persuasively.

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From Graphics to Preparing Witnesses to Trial Feedback.

We can assist you in graphics development, priming strategy, theme and metaphor strategy, staying on message, talking points, opening statement, preparing witnesses, ordering of evidence and closing argument.

In addition, we can assist with jury selection using the Jury Bias Model™ and cutting edge analysis. Finally, we will attend the trial and assist you with day-to-day feedback to adjust your presentation based upon the real-time developments that occurs at trial.

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Comprehensive Litigation Support

"You will be the judges of fact. You are the sole and exclusive judges of what the truth is. You will bring with you here your common sense."

The Honorable Russell R. Leggett Westchester County Court Judge
(To prospective jurors in the murder trial of Jean Harris Ð1986)

Our team offers a full slate of litigation support, including jury selection, priming strategy, theme and metaphor strategy, message development and delivery, talking points, graphics development, opening statement, witness preparation, ordering of evidence and closing argument. Our consultants attend trial and assist you with day-to-day feedback to adjust your presentation based on real-time developments, as they occur. Finally, we offer a full-range of pre- and post-trial publicity services, media coordination, broadcast and print advertising.

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