Archive | Getting the Job Done

Sleep – ear plugs

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On November 5, 2019

Category: Business Travel, Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Getting Through Life and Work, Mental Health, RoadWarrior, Travel

I am a light sleeper. I travel a lot, for both business and pleasure. These two realities often conflict, but, over the years, I have learned how to minimize the conflict with a simple and inexpensive solution: earplugs. Although I routinely request a room as far away as possible from the elevator and ice machine […]

Continue Reading

Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On November 5, 2019

Category: Business Travel, Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Getting Through Life and Work, Mental Health, RoadWarrior, Travel

Earplugs are but one of many travel tricks learned by years of being a road warrior.  Not that you can’t use them at home as well; Melissa can, and often does, wear them for the rare occasions when sleeping late is an option.  On the road though, with so many strange and unfamiliar variables at […]

Continue Reading

Which Path?

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On October 31, 2019

Category: Getting the Job Done, Jury Consultants, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Trial Consultants, Trial Consulting

I was recently contemplating a question commonly asked by our clients – which alternative is best? For example, a client recently asked, “We can call the situation a complication, we can call it unforeseen, we can call it an accident; which is best?” For whatever reason that day, my mind did, as it often does, […]

Continue Reading

Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On October 31, 2019

Category: Getting the Job Done, Jury Consultants, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Trial Consultants, Trial Consulting

Kudos to David for quoting lyrics of a Led Zeppelin song!  Yes, there are two (or more) paths one can take, such that deciding which path will result in the best litigation outcome is often difficult for Magnus’ clients and other attorneys.  Generally speaking, Magnus is in the business of using social science research to […]

Continue Reading

I’m happiest when I have a new data set

One of Magnus’ former employees once remarked that the times he saw me at my happiest were the days when I was analyzing a new data set. How true! There are few things in life I enjoy more than delving into a raw data file from a recently conducted survey of potential jurors. I eagerly […]

Continue Reading

Some girls get excited about diamonds; Melissa gets excited about data (well, diamonds too). Data sets give her the chance to use her favorite computer program – SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). She fires up SPSS and digs in whenever she can. Sometimes the data sets are large and she can really poke […]

Continue Reading

Unpaid Work

As entrepreneurs, Melissa and I often work without getting paid.  The most common example from “my department” is talking with a prospective client about a new case, preparing a proposal, following up, only to hear that the project is a no go.  Perhaps the price was beyond their budget, or the client wanted to use […]

Continue Reading

People who lack the entrepreneurial mindset often can’t relate to David’s and my perspective regarding doing copious amounts of work for which we are not compensated.  As an example, I have made hundreds of presentations to attorneys’ and insurance companies’ associations, most of which have involved zero payment to me.  Why would I do such […]

Continue Reading

Ask Me a Question, then LISTEN to My Answer

Recently, I have had several experiences in which someone asked me one or more questions, then constantly interrupted me while I attempted to answer the question(s). This has happened more times than I can count, however, it happened several times in the period of a few days, both in business and personal situations. One of […]

Continue Reading

I think part of the listening dilemma is an occupational hazard. Our clients are mostly attorneys and attorneys are paid to talk. Listening seems more difficult for some, not all, of them. This manifests itself during jury selection when some seem to have difficulty actively listening to the responses to the questions they are asking. […]

Continue Reading

In appreciation of Rats

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On October 8, 2019

Category: Business personalities, Careers, Getting the Job Done, Psychology

I am among the psychologists whose education included taking a class in experimental psychology, specifically, animal learning. The basic premise of this class was, after being assigned to a rat, training the rat in all sorts of classical and instrumental conditioning paradigms. (Classical conditioning is when a stimulus is presented to elicit a response. Instrumental […]

Continue Reading

Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On October 8, 2019

Category: Business personalities, Careers, Getting the Job Done, Psychology

While I’ll agree lab rats, and often other animals, serve a worthwhile purpose, I don’t share Melissa’s fondness for them. I particularly dislike rats and other critters that enter our human world uninvited. Especially the ones that get in the house, seen or unseen, and scurry about. A recent dead rat lodged in the engine […]

Continue Reading

Talk to the Boss

Many years ago when we were first starting Magnus, we learned a lesson, the hard way, about trusting clients, even prior clients, or their associates, when making research plans. We met with a client from our prior employer, at his request, and we came up a research plan for one of his cases. After the […]

Continue Reading

“Talk to the boss” was an early, and painful, lesson learned in the early days of Magnus Research Consultants. Related to this learning experience was the realization that, when a client says, “The check is in the mail” or something similar, the check might not actually be in the mail (or sent via overnight delivery […]

Continue Reading

Lawyers on the Move

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On September 26, 2019

Category: Careers, Employment, Entrepreneurship, Getting the Job Done, Getting Through Life and Work, Jury Consultants, Managing Employees

Having “chased” lawyers as clients for nearly 30 years I’ve observed something that I find interesting. As a whole, lawyers move around, from firm to firm, with some regularity. Because they stay within their chosen profession of law, their career mobility is primarily among firms. From their own firm, to merging with another firm, starting […]

Continue Reading

Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On September 26, 2019

Category: Careers, Employment, Entrepreneurship, Getting the Job Done, Getting Through Life and Work, Jury Consultants, Managing Employees

Although, in many professions, people don’t spend their entire career in one workplace, working for one employer, lawyers seem to move from firm to firm more than many other professionals do. I don’t know the reasons for this, but I expect they fall into the usual categories: (1) increased compensation at a new firm; (2) […]

Continue Reading

“What’s the next case going to be?”

Glass laminates, carpet glue, yacht paint, windshield wiper technology, medical negligence, accounting malpractice, legal malpractice, burns, brain damaged babies, dog bites, hurricane damage – to coffee, hurricane building damage, construction defects, government taking of land (eminent domain), murder, rape, cruise ship based crimes, cruise ship excursions gone wrong, toxic chemicals, environmental damage, celebrities accused of […]

Continue Reading

As the old saying goes, “been there, done that.” There are probably some types of lawsuits on which I have not consulted, but right now, I can’t think of one! A potential client asked me recently if I’d ever worked on: (1) a big case; (2) a professional malpractice case; or (3) a securities case. […]

Continue Reading

Hiring an Unqualified Consultant is Like…

As I write this, David is attending a series of out of town marketing meetings. David is meeting with clients, as well as with prospective clients, in the never ending task of obtaining new business for Magnus. Even though my career is nothing new and I have been working in the field of litigation consulting […]

Continue Reading

This topic is a bit of a recurring one for us, in some variation. For a number of reasons, our profession has been under appreciated regarding what it means to be a qualified professional. Though many professions require credentials, qualifications, licenses, and tests, ours does not. This leaves the customer to sometimes buy from less […]

Continue Reading

Powered by WordPress. Designed by WooThemes