In a courtroom, it isn’t necessarily the attorney with the
best facts who wins, but the attorney who best explains the relevance of those
facts both to the case and to the
jurors.Certainly, you need solid evidence, but here we’re talking
about what you need to do to get the edge. What, given the
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A Mind-Boggling Social Experiment Proves the Importance of First Impressions
If you ever wondered just how important the jurors’ first
impressions of your client and witnesses are, here’s a mind-boggling social experiment,
posted on Facebook.It shows people walking right past well-known and loved
family members, not recognizing a single one of them, when the family members
were dressed as homeless individuals, sitting as…
Don’t Undermine The Value of Your Focus Group
A
focus group has many benefits, among the primary being the opinions the mock jurors
offer on the case—the strengths, weaknesses, validity of themes, etc. However, focus group jurors can only provide
opinions when asked the right questions. Too often, lawyers ask focus group
jurors to deliberate and discuss only the verdict questions. This…
Your Client, Expert and Witness E-Impressions Matter! Manage Them Well
What is written has more weight than what is said.
Always. That is why, when something is important, we write it down. That is
why, in any courtroom, jurors will believe documents over witness testimony.Unfortunately, clients often forget this, if they even
ever stopped to think about it in the first place. And the…
Watch Those Jurors: Body Language Outdoes the Spoken Word
The courtroom setting is unfamiliar to most prospective
jurors as they sit with a group of strangers and are grilled by counsel during
voir dire. In addition, potential jurors may respond differently depending on
whether they want to be off or on a particular jury. Therefore, their responses
may not entirely reflect that person’s…
Help Your Witness Deliver Effective Testimony with Full Sentences
Rare is the witness who isn’t anxious, worried, scared–even
terrified–during deposition or cross-examination. Often this leads to a rapid
pace of speech. Not only that, but witnesses tend to believe that if they just
blurt out their response, they’ll get this dreadful experience over with
sooner.Now, there’s nothing wrong with speaking quickly, in and…
Classic Juror Misunderstandings
The brilliant cartoonist, Wiley Miller (“Non
Sequitur”), captured the misunderstandings between men and women as few
others have. For example, the wife says: “Let’s go shopping.” The husband
hears: “Let’s go drain the life force from your body.” The husband
says: “Honey, are you almost ready yet?” The wife hears: “Life as…
Be Good to Your Jurors: Connect the Dots!
Too often, in jury debriefings and in focus groups, jurors
complain that the attorneys do not connect their points or evidence to the
specifics of the complaint. Furthermore, attorneys rarely fully explain the
jury instructions to the jury, tying in those instructions to the attorney’s
interpretation of the case.In a classic case, namely the…
The Eyes Have It: Does Your Witness Know How to Look at Jurors?
Telling your witness to look at the jurors during their
testimony without teaching them how to do so can be fatal to your case. A scared, anxious witness may only dare a quick terrified
glance mid-sentence at the jurors, which confirms in the jurors’ minds that yes,
this witness is surely hiding something. So much…
Expert Under the Gun of Cross? Multi-sided Response to the Rescue
For your expert witnesses under the gun of
cross-examination, usually the most problematic answer is a flat “yes” or “no.”
Science holds few absolutes to be true, thus most scientists (which is the
majority of your experts) are uncomfortable with an uncategorical “yes” or “no”
in response to many of opposing counsel’s questions.Yet opposing counsel…
