Archive | Magnus Insights

Biggest Marketing Changes in 30 Years

Recently, Melissa and I have been talking with a long time client about an issue we have, and he has, identified as being a challenge for us, and him, as a trial lawyer/mentor. That is, the “new generation” of litigators/trial lawyers lack experience with trial consultants. In a recent, eye-opening, conversation that included his young […]

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The current generation of associate attorneys and their lack of awareness of the existence of trial consultants reminds me of the years I worked as an adjunct professor.  (As a side note, for many years after I earned my Ph. D., I had 2 jobs, a full time job in the corporate world and a […]

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Litigation Management Success Tips

I am a bit behind in my reading and I just finished a September 2020 CLM Magazine article by James McKeown entitled Rules of the Road: Five Tips for Successful Claims and Litigation Management. Mr. McKeown wrote this article aimed at claims professionals and the attorneys involved in the defense of claims. His 5 tips […]

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Magnus’ original slogan was “Reducing the uncertainty of litigation.”  There are numerous uncertainties in the world of litigation, however, an astute law professor, the late McKinley Smiley, advised us to change our slogan because many attorneys are not uncertain about anything.  They may be wrong, but they are certain.  This also applies to insurance adjusters, […]

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Why I’m a social psychologist

In my almost 4 decades of being a social psychologist, few people have asked me why I decided on a career in social psychology. Maybe it’s not too interesting to find out why people choose a career, maybe there’s something else to discuss, or maybe the topic never occurred to the people with whom I […]

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Melissa told me the story of why she chose social psychology not long after we met.  The number of social psychologists are but a fraction of the total number of psychologists and are not what one usually thinks of when thinking of psychologists.  Clinical psychologists, like TV’s Dr. Bob Hartley (Bob Newhart) are much more […]

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Show, Don’t Tell

Melissa and I wrote employee policy manuals and other training materials before we had employees. I am thinking about those today because I added a small update to the policy manual yesterday, thinking that it had been a long time since I had added anything. But, while the policy manual is pretty well set, the […]

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David never ceases to amaze me.  I cannot believe he missed a perfectly good opportunity to relate his post to a song by his favorite band, RUSH.  The title of the song is “Show Don’t Tell,” which is the title David used for this post. The premise of the song, written (of course) by Geddy […]

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Psychologists Don’t Get Cheap Deals in Vegas – Lawyers Can

As a follow up to my previous post about psychologists and lawyers seeing the world differently, one particular distinction between people in these 2 professions is their understanding of statistics, including probability, and the impact of this distinction on the conferences they attend. I’m sure the reader is wondering what statistics and conferences could possibly […]

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I recall how frustrated Jack was to finally find out why no “deals” were forthcoming in Las Vegas.  And I recall being surprised that the Vegas “odds makers” went as far as to profile entire professions.  But, I suppose calculating the odds is exactly what they do.  It is interesting to think about gamblers and […]

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Fighters or Settlers

We’ve written previously about how some lawyers seem to be more willing to go the distance, that is, take a case to trial, than others. In some discussions, this becomes a comparison of trial lawyers, who are ready for trial, and litigators, who work up cases, but seem to avoid starting a trial at all […]

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David has chosen to write about one of my favorite topics, which prompts me to mention one of my favorite clients.  I agree with the premise that some attorneys are fighters, who are willing to go to trial and “battle” for their clients’ rights, while others are fearful of going to the courthouse, instead, settling […]

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Psychologists and Lawyers See the World Differently

As I have stated in previous posts, I have had an interesting career, primarily because I have spent almost all of my professional life working with attorneys instead of with colleagues. Furthermore, my definition of “colleague” is narrow, in that I consider only other social psychologists as colleagues. The field of psychology is large, with […]

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What a perfect day to write this post.  Melissa just had a call with a client who is heading to trial soon.  When it was over she couldn’t wait to let me know about one aspect of the call, which was the lawyer insisting on wrongly defining a social psychological concept.  As readers of these […]

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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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It’s Nice to Be Appreciated

Melissa and I received an unexpected thank you note and gift from the new College of Law at my alma mater, Jacksonville University. We have been doing a little to help with the start up of that program. Out of the blue came a couple of packages with nicely designed and personalized paper weights. Goodness […]

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I was pleasantly surprised to receive the beautiful and thoughtful paperweight from Jacksonville University’s College of Law.  Rarely have my efforts been rewarded with such an appreciative gesture!  My friend, Teresa, is always thoughtful when she visits David and me.  She never leaves our house without writing a thank you note and surprising us with […]

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“Old South Carolina Sayings”

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On January 3, 2023

Category: Getting Through Life and Work, Growing Old is Not for Sissies, Life Outside of Work, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research

My mother, Leola Ann Wright Pigott, was born in Elberton, Georgia, and grew up, from a young age, in Anderson, South Carolina. She considered herself a true Southern belle, in the style of Scarlet O’Hara from the movie, “Gone With the Wind.” Even though Mom spent most of her life in my hometown, Fort Myers, […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On January 3, 2023

Category: Getting Through Life and Work, Growing Old is Not for Sissies, Life Outside of Work, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research

This post has intimidated me for some time in that Melissa wrote it effortlessly some time ago, but I haven’t thought of much to say.  I don’t recall old southern sayings having much of a place in my upbringing.  My parents were from Atlanta, so the southern part is similar, but for whatever reason, these […]

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