Archive | Trial Consultants

When things don’t make sense: 28 days off

The work we do as trial consultants requires us to work closely with our attorney clients for several weeks or months, or even years. Clients are typically respectful and courteous. But, as we have written before, there are a few outliers – clients who abuse everyone around them, including us. We have had a few […]

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One of the most interesting aspects in my career as a jury consultant is unrelated to the expertise I provide to my clients on things such as trial strategy, jury selection, and witness preparation.  This interesting aspect of my job happens when my clients, all of whom are educated and intelligent attorneys, forget I am, […]

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Technology simplifies our lives, right?

Another clean out story. In purging the old equipment to prepare for the Magnus’ move to new office, we came across VCRs, VHS tapes, cassette recorders, cassette tapes, DVD duplicators, and more. These are a history of the technology evolution in our lives. Yet, it was also a reminder of simpler times. When we first […]

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I don’t endorse the premise that technology simplifies our lives. Sometimes, it does, sometimes it doesn’t, and sometimes, there is no noticeable difference between old and new technology within the realm of simplicity.  I don’t mind change; in fact, I thrive on it.  And, it is relatively easy for me to learn new ways of […]

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Altruists and Narcissists

As a follow up to my last post containing the self assessment survey, I will outline several characteristics that differentiate altruists from narcissists. First of all, some definitions are in order, lest there be any doubt about these terms. An altruist is a person who has concern for other people’s welfare. He or she can […]

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Givers or takers.  Perhaps that is another way to relate to this topic.  The world has too many examples of narcissists; it is easy to identify many of them in the political realm.  Because politics is public, it is easiest to see them, though narcissists are certainly not limited to politics.  Examples from the business […]

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Putting Technology to Use

I was prompted to write this, and the prior post, because of Magnus’ recent move. The move necessitated discarding many tools which have been useful during our careers in trial consulting. When we started Magnus in late 1993, Melissa began to receive invitations to speak to groups of lawyers, insurance adjusters, and law school students. […]

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Thanks, in large part, to David, Magnus has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to using the most up to date technology.  I have been making presentations to large audiences for my entire career.  In the old days, when I was Director of Marketing Research at a large urban hospital, an A/V […]

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Show Don’t Tell

Trial exhibits are a big part of all properly conducted litigation. Most lawyers learned long ago that showing, and not just telling, is important. Some lawyers are more effective than others with this but most of them seem not to think visually. Once again, it’s Rush to the rescue. The first track on their 1989 […]

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Remember when we, as children, were subjected to “show and tell” by well meaning teachers?  I had little use for these trivial displays, finding most of my classmates’ showing and telling dreadfully boring.  However, this being said, the “show and tell” experiences from many people’s childhood illustrates the fundamental concept that a visual representation of […]

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Gaffer’s Tape

Perhaps it seems a bit silly to write about something as low tech as tape, but here I go. Gaffer’s tape is a special tape that looks somewhat like duct tape. And, yes, it is “duct” tape, not “duck tape; it originated as a product to use for HVAC duct work. Duct tape is the […]

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I am a huge fan of gaffer’s tape.  It protects Magnus’ mock jurors, clients, employees, and me from tripping over all of the wires and cords that would, absent it, cause a tripping hazard.  I like the fact that it sticks on the heavy industrial carpet found in most hotel and research facility conference rooms.  […]

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Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

By now, readers of these posts know that Melissa and I often use lyrics, song titles, or music references thus, this title is borrowed from a David Bowie song. In thinking of the content for this post, I came up with several potential titles. I kept the simplest of them but also considered “Time for […]

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I am a person who thrives on change.  I dislike following the same old routine, day after day, year after year.  This being said, it amazes me that Magnus Research Consultants has been located it the same office since 1996!  That’s almost 25 years!  (Although Magnus was founded in 1993, it was based in David’s […]

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Clipped Wings

Due to recent world events, most people’s lives have changed in ways that would, previously, have been unimaginable. Although some of my retired friends and family members tell me that they stayed home, often alone, before the pandemic and thus, haven’t noticed many changes in their daily lives, the rest of us have noticed lots […]

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Melissa and I have posted much about travel for work or pleasure, including a list of places we’ve been (https://magnusinsights.com/2016/06/ive-been-everywhere/). And, we have generally enjoyed our travels.  Sure, it is tiring and stressful, but the rewards are many.  Our work requires travel to the trial venue so that our case assessments are conducted based on people […]

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Muster in an Emergency

After many, many years of doing trial consulting work all over the place, we have amassed our share of travel war stories. One detail that readers of our posts will have noted is that we try to learn from everything that happens in order to do better the next time and we try to train […]

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The concept of what it means to be a member of a team is lost on some people.  In today’s world of “it’s all about me, myself, and I” or, as George Harrison wrote, “I Me Mine,” some people are too busy thinking about maximizing their best interests to realize that other people are depending […]

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Panic codes – “Buddy”

This is the 3rd and final post about panic at the mock jury research. Things happen. Bad things. Some are technical, some may involve the client, and some may involve the mock jurors. But, there are things about which some people would panic, which are better discussed outside the presence of the clients or mock […]

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As David mentioned, we at Magnus had the privilege to work with the late Buddy Payne first, as a client, and then, upon his retirement from the practice of law, as our very own advisor.  Although Buddy passed away many years ago, his spirit is still among us, from the beautiful ring he gave me […]

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