07 Saturday Jan 2017
Posted in Juror Questionnaires, Jury Selection, Trial Tips and Techniques, Voir Dire
≈ Comments Off on Voir Dire and The Internet – The Litigator’s Way of Getting To Know You.
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Dennis Elias, Dr. Ken Broda-Brahm, Internet, Jury Selection, Litigation Strategies Inc., Social media, Voir Dire
Getting Up Close and Personal: Using Social Media in Jury Selection, by Dennis Elias, Litigation Strategy, Inc.
Are you more candid online than in person? Apparently, it’s true, which makes the Internet and social media a boon to litigators. Here’s why, how, and where to draw the ethical line before you go too far. -CCE
29 Tuesday Nov 2016
Posted in Juror Questionnaires, Jury Persuasion, Jury Selection, Trial Tips and Techniques, Voir Dire
≈ Comments Off on Picking A Jury? Read This First.
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Dr. Ken Broda-Brahm, Juror Bias, Juror Questionnaires, Jury Selection, Persuasive Litigator, Voir Dire
Get Better Answers: Top 7 Posts on Supplemental Juror Questionnaires, by Dr. Ken Broda-Brahm, Persuasive Litigator
Well, here’s a treat. Seven posts all in one on jury selection and jury questionnaires. How do you find the right jurors to hear and decide your case? Some people have a natural tendency to tell you whatever you want to hear. They are just trying to be helpful. Some potential jurors simply don’t want to be there, and hope to be dismissed.
You have little time to sort this out. It is time to become an expert in human psychology. –CCE
If I had to pick one trial reform that has the best chance of promoting reliable information in voir dire and in decreasing reliance on demographic biases, it would be the greater use of supplemental juror questionnaires. A well-designed questionnaire allows you to uncover the attitudes that are most relevant to bias in a given case context. Here are seven posts laying out the reasons why.
21 Wednesday Oct 2015
Posted in Implied Bias, Jury Persuasion, Jury Selection, Trial Tips and Techniques, Voir Dire
≈ Comments Off on Understand Group Psychology Patterns for Winning Trial Strategy.
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Group Psychology, Jury Persuasion, Jury Selection, Ken Lopez, The Litigation Consulting Report, Voir Dire, Wilfred Bion
Group Psychology, Voir Dire, Jury Selection and Jury Deliberations, by Ken Lopez, The Litigation Consulting Report
Since first being exposed to the group psychology work of Wilfred Bion 15 years ago, I’ve been completely fascinated by it. I think his theories perfectly explain the behavior of every group that I’ve ever encountered. From boards that I sit on to groups on reality TV shows, they all behave in the same predictable ways, especially when placed under pressure. . . . [Emphasis added.]
03 Friday Jul 2015
Posted in Jury Persuasion, Jury Selection, Trial Tips and Techniques, Voir Dire
≈ Comments Off on Voir Dire and Racism.
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Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm, Jury Persuasion, Persuasive Litigator Blog, Racism, Trial Tips & Techniques, Voir Dire
Don’t Treat Racism as Just a Belief, by Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm, Persuasive Litigator Blog
As of posting time, seven African-American churches have burned down since the racially motivated murders in Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, South Carolina two weeks ago. One of those fires may have been caused by lightning, but there’s a concern that others may have been caused by a belief – namely, racism toward African-Americans. But that understanding of racism as a conscious and pointed belief can limit our understanding of the full spectrum of the bias. . . .
30 Tuesday Jun 2015
Posted in Exhibits, Jury Persuasion, Jury Selection, Litigation, Opening Argument, Technology, Timelines, Trial Tips and Techniques, Voir Dire
≈ Comments Off on Litigator’s Honey Pot – Top 9 Recent Litigation Posts From Ken Lopez.
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Ken Lopez, Litigation, Persuasive Trial Strategy, The A2L's Litigation Consulting Report Blog, Trial Tips & Techniques, Voir Dire
Top 9 Litigation Consulting Articles from Q2-2015, posted by Ken Lopez, The A2L’s Litigation Consulting Report Blog
What luck! Ken Lopez kindly has gathered 9 of his recent top posts. There’s a little something for anyone who practices litigation – voir dire and jury selection, trial graphics, persuasive opening arguments, a discussion of the Reptile Trial Strategy, and more. Thank you, Ken! -CCE
It’s been another great quarter of publishing blog articles on A2L’s Litigation Consulting Report Blog. . . . Since we post 2-3 articles every week, I’ve heard from our readers that it is sometimes hard to keep up with the latest articles. To help remedy that and organize the information better, roughly six times a year we publish a mini-retrospective at the end of the quarter, at the end of a year and/or to celebrate blogging milestones.
This quarter, I’m listing the top nine articles from April, May and June of 2015 reverse sorted by the number of times each article was read. This way, this list serves as an excellent reader-curated guide to the very best articles we have published recently. . . .
10 Wednesday Jun 2015
Posted in Implied Bias, Jury Selection, Peremptory Challenges, Trial Tips and Techniques, Voir Dire
≈ Comments Off on How Juror With Ties To Defendants’ Law Firm Stayed On The Jury.
Motion to Strike Potential Juror Represented by Law Firm Involved Denied, by Daniel E. Cummins, TortTalk Blog
(Source for Mr. Cummins post: “Panel Upholds Decision Not to Strike Juror With Ties to Firm” by P.J. D’Annunzio of The Legal Intelligencer (June 3, 2015).)
http://www.torttalk.com/2015/06/motion-to-strike-potential-juror.html
In the non-precedential Pennsylvania Superior Court case of DeFrancesco v. Lehigh Valley Health Network, No. 742 EDA 2014 (Pa. Super. May 26, 2015 Panella, Olson, Fitzgerald, J.J.) (slip op. by Fitzgerald, J.), the appellate court affirmed a trial court’s decision not to strike a juror from a medical malpractice case during voir dire even though the juror was a client of the same firm representing defendants in the case. . . .
22 Sunday Mar 2015
Posted in Apps, iPhones, Jury Selection, Legal Technology, Trial Tips and Techniques, Voir Dire
≈ Comments Off on Jury Selection – There’s An App For That.
iPad App: iJuror – Jury Selection at Your Fingertips, by Travis Francis, Legal Productivity
Gone are the days of using sticky notes and legal pads to assist with voir dire and jury selection. Now from the convenience of your iPad, attorneys are able to track their jury pools and organize notes throughout a trial by downloading iJuror.
iJuror is a jury selection app that helps attorneys select from a jury pool by maintaining juror information and responses during the jury selection process. . . .
14 Saturday Mar 2015
Posted in Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, Jury Selection, Research, Trial Tips and Techniques, Voir Dire
≈ Comments Off on Useful Information for Jury Selection?
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beSpacific Blog., Civil Rights, Criminal Law, Hate Crimes, Jury Selection, Sabrina I. Pacifici, Voir Dire
Study Finds Racial, Ethnic Divide In Attention To Crime News, by Sabrina I. Pacifici, BeSpacific Blog
http://www.bespacific.com/study-finds-racial-ethnic-divide-in-attention-to-crime-news/
‘Crime consistently ranks as one of the most followed and discussed topics by the public, and it receives more attention in local news media than almost any other subject. A recent Pew Research Center report reinforces these findings but also suggests that certain groups of residents pay closer attention to local crime than others in the three cities studied. A difference that particularly stands out is between racial and ethnic groups. . . .’
14 Friday Nov 2014
Posted in Implied Bias, Juror Impeachment, Jury Selection, Opening Argument, Peremptory Challenges, Trial Tips and Techniques, Voir Dire
≈ Comments Off on Should Attorneys, Not Judges, Conduct Voir Dire At Trial?
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Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm, Juries, Peremptory Challenges, Persuasive Litigator Blog, Trial Tips & Techniques, Voir Dire
Let the Lawyers Ask: Five Reasons for Attorney-Conducted Voir Dire, by Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm, Persuasive Litigator
You may think that trial attorneys are the only ones who conduct voir dire at trial. That is not necessarily the case. Not all judges agree, especially in federal court. Dr. Broda-Bahm argues here that the parties’ lawyers should have this role. -CCE
Ever had the experience of asking someone to ask someone else something on your behalf? It’s like a sixth-grader’s attempt to find out if someone likes you. Sometimes you need a little plausible deniability but, in most cases now, it’s easier and more direct to just ask on your own. And that is pretty much what attorneys want in voir dire. It is nice for the judge to explain the procedures and deal with some of the more obvious hardship and cause challenges, but I think it’s safe to say that every trial lawyer wants the chance to ask their own questions in voir dire. Unfortunately, in some states and in most federal courtrooms, attorney-conducted oral voir dire is either limited or nonexistent.
The judges in those courtrooms, however, have discretion, and can allow attorney-conducted oral voir dire if they think the case or the circumstances call for it. So, when attorneys do have an opening to argue for their own chance at the lectern during voir dire, how do they make the case? If the judge is firmly convinced that it’s wasted time or an unwelcome opportunity for lawyers to ask panelists to prejudge the case, then nothing is going to change that judge’s mind. But if judges are on the fence, then a joint request from the parties, along with a few good reasons, might be enough to sway them. This post offers five reasons, along with some supporting research, that could buttress a brief or an oral argument in favor of attorney-conducted oral voldir dire. . . .
08 Thursday May 2014
Posted in Jury Persuasion, Jury Selection, Trial Tips and Techniques, Voir Dire
≈ Comments Off on Include Juror Background Profiles For Strong Trial Strategy.
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Background Questionnaire, Juries, Juror Profile, Litigation Insights, Merrie Jo Pitera, Mock Jurors, Ph.D-CEO, Voir Dire
Jury Research Education Series | Developing a Juror Profile: Having a Strong Foundation, by Merrie Jo Pitera, Ph.D-CEO, Litigation Insights
Ultimately, a panel of jurors will decide your case. Knowing as much as possible about those jurors is therefore a critical element of trial strategy. Developing a juror profile you can requires gathering information about the characteristics of pro-plaintiff/pro-defense jurors in a scientifically valid manner. Just asking staff at your firm or a group of friends what they think doesn’t give you reliable information. The most reliable tool to develop your profile is based on the background questionnaire used in your jury research projects. In this blog post, we discuss how results from a questionnaire can serve as the foundation for your juror profile and how to design a well-constructed background questionnaire that gives you information you can trust. . . .
10 Monday Feb 2014
Posted in Jury Instructions, Jury Persuasion, Jury Selection, Peremptory Challenges, Trial Tips and Techniques, Voir Dire
≈ Comments Off on Jury Consultant’s Voir Dire Tips.
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Edward P. Schwartz, Hung Juries, Jury Consulting, Jury Selection, Jury Trials, Lawyers USA, Peremptory Challenges, Supplemental Juror Questionnaires, THE JURY BOX, Voir Dire, Voir Dire Questionnaires
Indirect Questions Reap Most Information in Oral Voir Dire, by Edward P. Schwartz, THE JURY BOX
In reviewing the traffic on my website recently, I was struck by how much more often one particular article was accessed than any other. I used to write a column on trial strategy for Lawyers USA (formerly Lawyers Weekly USA), and this particular article on voir dire strategy from 2006 seems to be very popular, even today. So, in the spirit of giving the public what it wants, here is that article in its entirety.
02 Thursday Jan 2014
Posted in Closing Argument, Jury Instructions, Opening Argument, Trial Tips and Techniques, Voir Dire
≈ Comments Off on Better Trial Messages to the Jury.
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Cambridge, Chunking, Closing Argument, Daniel Bor, Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm, Opening Argument, Persuasive Litigator, Trial Tips and Techniques, Voir Dire
Chunk Your Trial Message, by Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm, Persuasive Litigator
Dr. Broda-Bahm provides excellent ideas for litigators on how to “chunk” their trial messages. -CCE
Give me the bite-sized version, break it down into pieces, and tell it to me step-by-step. The brain loves to segment, and the process known as “chunking” seems to be a central part of how we recognize patterns, manage information, and form new insights. A recent perspective on the process is articulated by Cambridge neuroscientist Daniel Bor in his book, The Ravenous Brain (2012).
[I]t is one thing for the attorney to get that structure, and it is another thing for her listeners to get it just as well. Litigators and other communicators often believe that they’re breaking things down based on a clear, explicit, and meaningful structure, but their audience instead simply experiences a continuous and unbroken flow of information or arguments. Here are a few rules of thumb for making sure you’re actually chunking when you think you’re chunking:
It has to be simple (which usually means flat, without substructure, and limited to a manageable number of main points).
It has to be explicit (which usually means actually saying something like, “First point,” “Second point,” and “Third point”).
It usually should be previewed (“Tell them before you tell them,” unless you having a strategic reason for preserving a surprise).
22 Tuesday Oct 2013
Posted in Admissibility, Court Rules, Evidence, Expert Witnesses, Forensic Evidence, Trial Tips and Techniques, Voir Dire
≈ Comments Off on Experts, Admissibility, and Rule 705
Who Made You The Expert?: Rule 705 & The Admissibility of Underlying Facts or Data, by Evidence ProfBlogger, EvidenceProfBlog
http://bit.ly/1a085YM
16 Wednesday Oct 2013
Posted in Voir Dire
≈ Comments Off on Voir Dire Tips from Gerry Spence
Gerry Spence: Voir Dire Example, by Evan Schaeffer, The Trial Practice Tips Weblog(from Paul Luvera at Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips: ““Gerry Spence Voir Dire Questions.”)
The Researching Paralegal 
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