Author Archive | Melissa Pigott

You have control over your reactions

David and I have attended hundreds of meetings with attorneys and their clients in the decades we have owned and operated Magnus Research Consultants. Usually, these meetings are non eventful. Their purpose is often to explain to the end client (the person involved in the lawsuit) the advantages of retaining a litigation consultant to assist […]

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Litigation is stressful!  Having been there ourselves, Melissa and I know about the stress, the lost sleep, the lost focus on “real work,” and the time required to be an active participant in one’s case.  I get it.  I also know the costs of sticking one’s neck out – even if one must do it […]

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Linda Foley

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On February 4, 2020

Category: Careers, Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Magnus, Psychology, Travel, Work-Life

I met Dr. Linda Anderson Foley in 1980, soon after I began graduate school. At the time I met Dr. Foley, she was dating my major professor. Their long distance romance did not continue, however, because, at the time I met her, Dr. Foley was the chairperson of the Psychology Department at the University of […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On February 4, 2020

Category: Careers, Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Magnus, Psychology, Travel, Work-Life

Linda Foley was one of the first psychologists to whom Melissa introduced me because they were so close.  Though I don’t like talking about her in the past tense, I will say she was kind, smart, positive and committed to her work as a teacher, researcher, and administrator.  We had lots of fun together over […]

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The Mini – wacky experiences

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On January 28, 2020

Category: Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Mental Health, Work-Life

It happened again. Today, as I was filling my Mini Cooper S Roadster with petrol (after all, British cars use petrol, not gas!), a woman whom I do not know walked up to me and exclaimed, “That’s the cutest car I have ever seen!”. I thanked her and continued what I was doing. She began […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On January 28, 2020

Category: Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Mental Health, Work-Life

Melissa has always had fun, fast, cars since we met.  When we met, she drove a bright red Camaro – with a manual transmission that took me sometime to learn, though never master.  Next was a black Corvette which she drove for 25 years – keeping the Vette mechanic happy along the way.  Jumping to […]

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I spend more time with lawyers than psychologists/colleagues

I have been a social psychologist for my entire career, however, my occupation has not been in the traditional trajectory within my field. Most social psychologists are university professors. In fact, it is somewhat frowned upon for social psychologists to work in occupations outside academia. My major professor has always looked down upon my work […]

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Melissa has introduced me to more psychologists, and types of psychologists, than I ever knew existed when we first met.  At that time, I was hanging around colleagues in my world of photography.  While the photographers were visually creative, I came to learn and appreciate the creative minds of her psychology colleagues.  Their conceptualization of […]

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Pro bono work – why do it

In the almost 30 years David and I have owned and operated Magnus Research Consultants, we have been privileged to work on several high profile pro bono cases. Pro bono means “for the public good” and it is usually performed by attorneys for free, that is, at no cost to their clients. Many lawyers are […]

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The pro bono cases on which we’ve worked have been some of the most personally rewarding cases we have handled.  While the intellectual rewards of the work we do are often felt, in these cases, it has been something special.  The cases have been unique, cases with questions no one has had to answer previously, […]

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No one hires me for a happy event

Just as none of Magnus’ clients retain us for easy cases, none of our clients retain us for anything remotely happy. In order for Magnus to become involved with an attorney and his/her client, something terrible has happened. We have worked on cases involving tragic deaths, including murder and multiple fatalities in accidents; horrific burns; […]

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My mother once asked why I didn’t make a calendar of nice things instead of courthouses (which I did for 20 years).  She said she thinks only bad things happen in courthouses.  We then had a discussion about the good things that happen there such as weddings, and, most importantly, people seeking and getting justice.  […]

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If someone isn’t nice to me, they won’t see me again, ever.

My time is valuable. It is valuable to me, if not to anyone else. (In that Magnus’ clients compensate my company, and thus, me, in relatively high amounts of money, I would argue that my time is perceived as valuable to someone other than me. But, I digress.) Because I value my time and my […]

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Fortunately, as we wrote in the prior related post, our clients are usually nice, professional, even kind and friendly.  We all know we’re working together for a common goal and egos usually stay in check.  But, there are exceptions. I used the example of a particularly toxic client we once had who, with our help, […]

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Most lawyers who hire me are nice to me

People are people, regardless of their profession. There are some people who are popular and well liked and there are others who are not well liked. Attorneys, of course, are people and, as such, there are some attorneys who are well liked and well respected by their colleagues and then, there are others, whom no […]

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Many of our clients are feared by their opponents, and sometimes, their own staff and litigation team.  I don’t know if the latter is a good thing, but I’ve seen it as an overall positive.  Being feared by the opposition is probably generally positive as long as the fear is because the attorney’s litigation skills […]

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Why I like spending time with lawyers

Many people, including mock jurors and other research participants, courthouse personnel, friends, and attorneys, ask me if I am an attorney. Invariably, when this happens, I am wearing a dark, conservative business suit, the attire preferred by many attorneys with whom I am acquainted. I always answer, “No, I am not an attorney. I am […]

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I share Melissa’s enjoyment of working with attorneys and on their challenging cases.  We’ve written before about the intellectual stimulation of doing so.  Neither of us grew up in a family of lawyers, as many of our clients did, but we grew up with a familiarity with lawyers, law enforcement (me), and courthouses (Melissa).  Either […]

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What to do When Your Armor has Chinks

My last post mentioned the tendency among many people I know to search for chinks in my armor. I guess these people have their reasons for wanting me to be less intelligent, or less educated, or less cool, but so far, their attempts have fallen flat. This, related, post is about what to do when […]

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Repairing chinks in one’s armor is more difficult than deflecting the chink in the first place.  As with any fight or conflict, avoiding the confrontation is rule 1. Charlie’s innate reaction of avoidance minimizes chinks.  But some engagements are not as random, and one off, as a road rage incident.  Often, the chinking occurs over […]

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