Archive | Litigation Tips

12 Digits

Many of the posts we write are inspired by recent events, though our list has many titles we created as far back as 10 years ago at the inception of the Magnus Insights, 2’s Company blog. I’ll admit that there are many DF titles I haven’t written yet. I’m writing today, while smiling a bit, […]

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David is right.  We have a long list of topics to write about, including some that have been on our list for many years.  But lately, it seems that David writes about new things that inspire him instead of writing about something that inspired him years ago.  This being said, I never imagine we would […]

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One of Us Must Be Wrong

One of our first marketing trips when Melissa and I started Magnus was to my hometown of Jacksonville to call on family friends and referrals. I will always remember visiting one of those attorneys, Carl, who told us that he and his client, an insurance adjuster, disagreed on the value of a case. It was […]

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David’s post reminds me of a song; of course it does! The song is titled, “You Know I’m Right” and it was written by David Gilmour (of Pink Floyd fame). One of the lines in the song is “Either you are wrong or I am right.” Another is “Why should you bother with the other […]

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A Matter of Perspective

A recent discussion with a client about his client’s (an insurance adjuster) reluctance to engage us for mock jury research is stuck in my mind. The adjuster, whose multiple bosses overruled in authorizing the expenditure on the mock jury research, remained adamantly against it as he did not believe the defendant had an liability such […]

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I’m thrilled I don’t have to deal with reluctant, know it all, insurance adjusters too often.  I would find it tiresome.  In the recent case David mentioned, there were countless delays caused by the reluctant, know it all, adjuster that almost resulted in our not being able to help the end client, that is, the […]

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10 Years After, Part 2

Working as a trial consultant has many unique factors that keep our lives interesting, and sometimes, frustrating. One factor is the time between when we are called on a case and when we actually do our work, such as a mock trial, and when that case goes to trial. I sometimes have attorneys ask me […]

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David does an excellent job of following up with Magnus’ clients.  Some people would be offended by the “radio silence” that usually happens between when a client contacts us about a potential case and when he or she decides to retain us.  Not David.  David calls, then calls again and again, emails, then emails again […]

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Top Reasons to Do Litigation Research

It seems that “top 5 or top 10″ lists are popular in many areas. They are often entertaining; the show “Family Feud” is built on them. Late night talk shows thrive on them, going back at least to Johnny Carson. Thus, I thought I’d list a few of the top reasons for conducting mock jury, […]

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The top 5 reasons David mentioned about  conducting  mock jury or focus group research are on point.  I have no additional reasons to add, therefore, I will make a general comment.  In the 30 years David and I have owned Magnus, including the almost 10 years we have been writing our twice weekly blog, we […]

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Arbitration Research

Most attorneys retain Magnus Research Consultants for pre mediation or pre trial jury research, but arbitration is increasingly used to resolve cases. After all these years, it is interesting to note attorneys’ surprise when they find out that we conduct pre arbitration research. They ask us, “How can we do that? Where can we find […]

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This is one of those areas where our attorney clients must “think out of the box.”  (I actually detest that phrase, but it seems so common that it is well understood to mean be creative.)  Unfortunately, I know all too well how what we are, what we do, is put in a “box” of sorts, […]

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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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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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