Archive | Jury Research

Jury is Greater than the Sum of Individual Juror Parts

Social psychology is the scientific study of how people behave in groups. There are many areas of research within social psychology, however, they share a common focus on how individual and group interactions are shaped by one’s external environment, specifically, other people. Numerous research findings have demonstrated the impact of the group on individual performance, […]

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Groups are found in many environments.  Work teams, church or other volunteer groups, are the norm in our world.  But, nowhere other than juries are group efforts and group decisions more important in our society.  Juries, especially those which require unanimous verdicts, work hard to achieve their goal.  The study of juries as groups by […]

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Making It Up As You Go

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On December 29, 2022

Category: Business Partnerships, Entrepreneurship, Getting the Job Done, Jury Consultants, Jury Research

For no imaginable reason, one of the (heavy) rock and roll stations that Melissa enjoys on Sirius XM Radio has been playing a song by the country star, Blake Shelton. I love the line from the song, “There ain’t no map, there ain’t no plan.” The song appears to be about a romantic breakup, but […]

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Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On December 29, 2022

Category: Business Partnerships, Entrepreneurship, Getting the Job Done, Jury Consultants, Jury Research

The key to making things up as you go along is acting like you know what you are doing.  I have been doing this for as long as I can remember.  The first time in my career that I acted like I knew what I was doing, when I actually had no idea about the […]

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Some Cases Last Longer than Imaginable

A challenging aspect of our trial consulting work is timing. It is always an issue for us to ramp up when we are engaged for a project. There is lead time in all that we do. Some clients, particularly repeat clients, understand this and call us well in advance of their “need.” Other times it […]

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I sincerely hope 10 years will be the longest time between case intake and conducting mock trials!  At this point in my life and career, I’m not certain I will be around 10 years from now!  The case to which David refers is Magnus’ infamous case #110.  As a point of reference, when we finally […]

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Social Psych = Groups = Juries

Over the years, many people have asked me what makes me qualified to work as a jury/trial consultant. I explain that I have a Ph.D. in social psychology, which is the scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by other people and situations. Social thinking, social influence, and social behavior are […]

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I have certainly learned a lot about social psychology, by osmosis and directly from Melissa, as well as in a graduate course, taken before I had any intent of working in the trial consulting world, that helped me more than I knew it would.  It is interesting to explain the principles of psychological science to […]

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Almost Like Cheating

I keep a list of things clients have said during or after working with us on mock jury research. These tidbits illustrate the eye opening reactions some attorneys have when observing jurors deliberate. One of my favorites was from (now retired) Pete Burkert in Fort Myers, FL. After a series of mock juries, he said, […]

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Pete Burkert’s quote is memorable, even after many years have passed.  Until his and his partner, Kim Hart’s, retirement, Magnus enjoyed decades of working with these 2 extremely fine attorneys.  Mr. Hart had worked with us several times before we worked with his law partner, Mr. Burkert, and Kim called to tell me what Pete […]

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Premature Decisions

Several recent client/case events prompted this post. My biased view of litigation is that it is best done when as much input (a.k.a. data) is considered. This includes data from various experts, but also data from mock juries used to evaluate the risks of litigation. The first example is with a case that settled prior […]

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I prefer things to be done in an orderly, not a chaotic, manner.  When I make a decision about whether or not a particular person will be a “good” juror for a client’s case, I don’t merely look at the person and say, “Yeah, that one looks pretty good to me.”  Instead, my decisions regarding […]

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Business as Usual

Business as usual is a phrase that typically means “everything is normal.” Except that, sometimes, it is not. And sometimes, it is normal in one place, not another. Because our work happens in the trial venue, we have to adapt to what is happening there. It might be normal there, and not here. An example, […]

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Although I have not lived full time in Fort Myers since soon after my high school graduation in 1976, it will always be “home” to me.  My family came to Fort Myers from Wakulla County, Florida in the 1920s, almost 100 years ago.  The images of many local landmarks and some of my favorite places […]

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Reactive v. Proactive

My mother used to tell me that she, as well as almost everyone else, would “have to get up before breakfast to stay ahead of me.” For readers of this post who are unfamiliar with, as Mom used to say “old South Carolina sayings,” this means that, all things considered, I work and move at […]

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I don’t think of the proactive/reactive dichotomy as just an issue of speed, but of priorities.  And, in fairness to our clients (attorneys), many reactive behaviors are a part of the job.  They must react to rulings by the court, motions or pleadings by the other side, client demands, etc.  It is not just attorneys, […]

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Not Everyone in Purple Thinks the Same Way

Maybe it wasn’t really purple, more like lavender. The polo style shirts by 2 male senior citizens on one of our mock jury panels were very similar. I wasn’t present to witness the events first hand, but I have seen the video of the deliberations many times. The venue was a community where many senior […]

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I know several people who adore the color purple (I am not among them).  It is rare, however, to see 2 male senior citizens wearing purple clothing in the same room.  In fact, the mock jury David is referring to is the only time I have ever seen 2 men of any age wearing purple […]

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Probing Questions and Difficult Answers

I went to my primary care physician recently for my annual check up. (As an aside, my physician is smart: He has a Ph. D. in addition to an M. D.) My physician is committed to helping medical students with their education. He has mentored medical students from The University of Miami for decades and […]

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I loved hearing the story Melissa related about the young medical student shortly after her check up.  It was a classic example of how Melissa’s interactions with the world are sometimes more than what people bargained for on any given day.  I hope that, not only did this make a lasting  impression on this future […]

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