Archive | Trial Consultants

Followers

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On April 3, 2018

Category: Jury Behavior, Jury Deliberations, Litigation Tips, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Psychology, Trial Consultants, Trial Consulting

I have heard some parents extol their children’s leadership abilities while, simultaneously, praising their children for not being a follower, “like everyone else.” This dual conception of leadership, while it may appear on the surface to be accurate, is not supported by decades of social psychological research. Most widely accepted social psychological definitions of leadership […]

Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On April 3, 2018

Category: Jury Behavior, Jury Deliberations, Litigation Tips, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Psychology, Trial Consultants, Trial Consulting

“Lead, follow, or get out of my way.” This quote from General George S. Patton, Jr. is quoted with some variation in many discussions about leaders and followers. It came to my mind reading Melissa’s post. Her post made me realize that considering what leads to following is perhaps more interesting in some ways than […]

Leaders

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On March 27, 2018

Category: Jury Behavior, Jury Deliberations, Litigation Consultants, Litigation Tips, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Psychology, Trial Consultants

Leaders and leadership have been studied by social psychologists for decades. The most widely accepted definition of leader is a person who influences group activities. A leader is someone who uses social power to move others in a desired direction by getting other people to follow his/her suggestions or orders. Most people, at one time […]

Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On March 27, 2018

Category: Jury Behavior, Jury Deliberations, Litigation Consultants, Litigation Tips, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Psychology, Trial Consultants

Organizational leadership is also a well studied field, but given our day to day work, I want to comment on the foreperson as leader fallacy that Melissa mentioned. As Melissa pointed out, forepersons are often nominated based on some form of experience. I was nominated as foreperson when I served on a jury because, after […]

Impression Management, part 2: Snap Judgments

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On March 22, 2018

Category: Careers, Getting the Job Done, Jury Behavior, Jury Research, Litigation Consultants, Litigation Tips, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Psychology, Trial Consultants

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal (January 31, 2018, page A9), “The Mistakes You Make in a Meeting’s First Milliseconds,” by Sue Shellenbarger, prompted me to think about first impressions in the courtroom. And, particularly, the jurors’ first impressions of the attorneys. While the attorneys’ first impressions of jurors and witnesses, both fact […]

Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On March 22, 2018

Category: Careers, Getting the Job Done, Jury Behavior, Jury Research, Litigation Consultants, Litigation Tips, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Psychology, Trial Consultants

I routinely remark to the attorneys who are my clients that the jurors are the “only perfect people in the world.” That is, when one’s fate, and the fate of one’s client, rests in the decision made by a jury, the jury’s decision is final. Furthermore, the jury’s final decision may or may not be […]

Persuasion

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On March 13, 2018

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

The study of attitudes and attitude change has a long tradition in social psychology. Related to attitude change is the concept of persuasion, the process by which attitude change occurs. In my role as a litigation/jury consultant, I assist attorneys become persuasive communicators, with the goal being to convince the jury, arbitrators, or judge to […]

Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On March 13, 2018

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

Litigation is unique, when compared to other arenas where persuasion is important, such as advertising or marketing. With an advertising campaign, the ads, whether billboards, print media, social media, television, radio, or other formats, are often tested with focus groups, etc. And, once refined, the ad campaign is launched in a fashion where a wide […]

The New World Order

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On March 8, 2018

Category: Getting the Job Done, Jury Behavior, Litigation Consultants, Litigation Research, Litigation Tips, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Psychology, Trial Consultants

Melissa and I have attempted do two things consistently with the posts we write. First, we try to be tactful, and not insult anyone. Second, we strive to be timeless, not dating our posts by the topic. This post breaks the 2nd rule, but hopefully, not the first objective. The topic is what some have […]

Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On March 8, 2018

Category: Getting the Job Done, Jury Behavior, Litigation Consultants, Litigation Research, Litigation Tips, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Psychology, Trial Consultants

Although many people cannot agree about politics, most people will agree politics have divided us into “us and them” factions more than, perhaps, any time in recent history. All of the people who are “us,” whatever that means on a personal basis, believe all of the people who are “them” are wrong, while all of […]

Bargaining and negotiation

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On March 6, 2018

Category: Jury Behavior, Jury Consultants, Jury Deliberations, Jury Research, Litigation Consultants, Litigation Research, Litigation Tips, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Psychology, Trial Consultants, Trial Consulting

Bargaining is a social psychological phenomenon that I observe in every mock jury research project I conduct. Rarely do the mock jurors reach unanimity without considerable back and forth discussions. According to social psychological theory, bargaining involves situations with the following characteristics: (1) the parties involved have divergent interests; (2) some form of communication by […]

Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On March 6, 2018

Bargaining and negotiation involve give and take. And, some people will do all the taking, and little of the giving. We all observe this in many human interactions. In a jury scenario, this reality takes on a specific life of its own. We see it all the time in mock juries as the mock jurors […]

Conformity

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On February 13, 2018

Category: Jury Behavior, Jury Consultants, Jury Deliberations, Litigation Consultants, Litigation Research, Litigation Tips, Magnus, Magnus Research, Psychology, Trial Consultants

Almost everyone knows the meaning of conformity. From an early age, we are taught to conform with others’ ways of doing things, to go along with group norms, and to desire to be like everyone else. Few of us actually think about the strong social pressures designed to ensure our conformity; we tend to “go […]

Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On February 13, 2018

Category: Jury Behavior, Jury Consultants, Jury Deliberations, Litigation Consultants, Litigation Research, Litigation Tips, Magnus, Magnus Research, Psychology, Trial Consultants

Melissa states that understanding conformity is part of understanding that a group is stronger than its individual parts. That is, in our litigation consulting world, a jury is stronger than a single juror, even if a single juror can “hang” a jury. My comments conform to her statement, but I want to expand it beyond […]

Reminder: Juries are Groups, Jurors are Individuals

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On February 8, 2018

Category: Jury Behavior, Jury Deliberations, Jury Research, Litigation Consultants, Litigation Tips, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Psychology, Trial Consultants, Trial Consulting

So, the reader is probably thinking “duh, right, tell me something I didn’t know.” And, I agree, this should be obvious. Except when it isn’t. The beginning of a trial includes voir dire – asking questions of individuals – to determine which ones the attorney wants to include, or more accurately, exclude from a jury. […]

Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On February 8, 2018

Category: Jury Behavior, Jury Deliberations, Jury Research, Litigation Consultants, Litigation Tips, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Psychology, Trial Consultants, Trial Consulting

David may believe it is obvious to most people that there are fundamental differences between juries and jurors, however, I must disagree with this conclusion. I find that most people, as well as most attorneys, rarely consider the group dynamics that are an integral aspect of jury behavior. In fact, I will go as far […]

Defensive attribution

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On February 6, 2018

Defensive attribution has been widely researched by social psychologists since the 1960s. Defensive attribution is the bias, present in most people, that leads to blaming a victim of misfortune for his/her role in the misfortune. Among the first research studies on the topic of defensive attribution was a study that found accident victims were perceived […]

Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On February 6, 2018

Though I have taken graduate psychology courses, I have certainly benefited from the litigation specific tutoring and examples Melissa has provided me, and our clients, over many years. I recall one of the first times defensive attribution raised its ugly head and had to be explained to a client on the fly. Our client, a […]

A Numbers Game

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On February 1, 2018

Category: Jury Behavior, Jury Deliberations, Litigation Tips, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Psychology, Trial Consultants, Trial Consulting

It happened last week, as it has many times before. “It,” in this case, is the random outcome of a mock jury project that surprises the clients most of all. The scenario was as follows: we were engaged to conduct mock jury research using 4 panels of mock jurors to deliberate to a verdict. The […]

Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On February 1, 2018

Category: Jury Behavior, Jury Deliberations, Litigation Tips, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Psychology, Trial Consultants, Trial Consulting

I have had the opportunity to observe thousands of mock jurors deliberate and, although I do not know in advance what their decisions will be, I know enough to realize people are not always who they appear to be. I have spent countless time watching and listening to people make decisions, including mock jury deliberations […]

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Archive | Trial Consultants

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

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David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

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David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

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Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

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