Archive | Trial Consultants

Hard Work

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On April 15, 2021

Category: Business Frustrations, Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Litigation Research, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Managing Employees, Small Business Success, Trial Consultants

Always learning – that’s the reality of life, and in operating a business. A lesson learned many years ago happened when we hired a young woman as a research associate. She fit all of our hiring criteria for education, background, etc. She was attractive and well dressed. Her appearance was important to her as evidenced […]

Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On April 15, 2021

Hooray for Jessica! As David mentioned, after our experience with one of our former employees, who resigned over too many broken fingernails, we were delighted to hire Jessica Nurek (now Jessica Palomino) because, not only was she qualified for the research associate job, she was not afraid of performing hard work. Cleaning animal stalls is […]

Templates – Creating and Using

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On April 8, 2021

Category: Business personalities, Careers, Entrepreneurship, Getting the Job Done, Jury Research, Litigation Research, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Managing Employees, Small Business Success, Trial Consultants

We spent some time recently updating the templates we use at Magnus. From day 1, I’ve worked on developing templates and, over the years, modifying them to keep up with changes as necessary. We have templates for reports, for contracts, and countless forms that help us keep track of our work. The only thing standardized […]

Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On April 8, 2021

David likes forms and templates more than anyone I have ever known. When we are in the process of developing a new service, David routinely advocates for using a template to ensure things are standardized. Although all of my questionnaires are custom designed to assess mock jurors’, survey respondents’, and other research participants’ attitudes about […]

Hiding behind Email

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On April 1, 2021

Category: Business Frustrations, Business Relationships, Careers, Common Courtesy, Entrepreneurship, Getting the Job Done, Jury Research, Litigation Consultants, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Marketing your Business, Small Business Success, Trial Consultants

Prompted by my posts about “different direction” and “ghosting,” a related phenomenon is hiding behind email, especially as a way to deliver bad news. Maybe it is just me, but it seems a matter of professionalism and fairness that, if one asks someone else to do something like prepare a proposal for consulting services, the […]

Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On April 1, 2021

I love to discuss, and write about, etiquette. As a social psychologist, I am keenly aware of the social norms involved in etiquette, which involves far more than knowing which fork to use. There is a certain etiquette involved in communicating with others, in both professional and personal settings. This includes “responding in kind” to […]

I’m a Professional Judge of Character – Trust my 1st Impression

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On March 30, 2021

Category: Business Frustrations, Business Partnerships, Business personalities, Business Relationships, Employment, Entrepreneurship, Getting the Job Done, Jury Consultants, Litigation Consultants, Litigation Research, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Managing Employees, Marketing your Business, Mental Health, Psychology, Small Business Success, Trial Consultants

There have been several notable examples of my, and others’, questioning my first impressions of someone. On all of these occasions, my first impression was correct and unfortunately, questioning it caused negative turns of events. In that, as a psychologist, I am what most people would consider “a professional judge of character,” I have tried […]

Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On March 30, 2021

One aspect of owning a business never gets easier – hiring. I feel like it is always a gamble. And, I’m apparently not a good gambler because I’ve taken chances on hiring people who turned out to be ill equipped to do our work, or worse, a really bad fit, a bad choice, maybe a […]

Always Take First Watch

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On March 9, 2021

Category: Business Frustrations, Business personalities, Business Travel, Careers, Common Courtesy, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Jury Consultants, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, RoadWarrior, Travel, Trial Consultants

Always take the first watch. I received this sage advice many years ago, from a friend who spent most of his life in the United States Navy. The rationale is that one will be less tired during the first watch than in later shifts. First watch, of course, is usually the daytime hours, such as […]

Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On March 9, 2021

Always take first watch, unless Melissa beats you to it! After that, I’m not sure which is better, 2nd or 3rd watch. It might depend on whether it is night or day, and whether sleep is possible. Though I wasn’t onboard for the hurricane avoidance drive, I remember it well. I had the outsider’s view, […]

Sorting out responses and non responses

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On March 4, 2021

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

A few months ago, Melissa and I were talking with one of our favorite clients, Buddy Schulz, when he commented that Melissa’s job during jury selection involved sorting out responses, and non responses, of potential jurors. He was noting that it is one thing to evaluate what someone says during jury selection (or perhaps with […]

Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On March 4, 2021

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

Jury selection involves, at least for me, interpreting and de-coding the things people say and do and the things they don’t say or do. In fact, I spend just as much time observing the nuances of people’s behavior as I do in listening to the words they say. When a potential juror is being questioned […]

Better Than “Different Direction”

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On March 2, 2021

Category: Business Frustrations, Careers, Common Courtesy, Entrepreneurship, Getting the Job Done, Jury Consultants, Litigation Research, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Marketing your Business, Small Business Success, Trial Consultants

As a follow up to David’s last post regarding the soul killing phrase “We have decided to move in a different direction,” I will provide alternative phrases that are more appropriate forms of rejection. Keeping in mind that David, and other consultants, spend considerable time and money speaking with prospective clients, preparing proposals outlining the […]

Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On March 2, 2021

I like that-“vapid euphemisms.” In my most recent vapid encounter, vapid also seemed to apply to the paralegal who called me. Whether it was her fault or not, she not only had insufficient information to give me as to what the attorney purportedly wanted (which was an inappropriate research design, given what she did know), […]

Different Direction

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On February 25, 2021

Category: Business Frustrations, Careers, Common Courtesy, Entrepreneurship, Getting the Job Done, Jury Consultants, Litigation Research, Magnus, Magnus Research, Marketing your Business, Small Business Success, Trial Consultants

Last week I got a call from a paralegal who asked me to provide a proposal for a mock trial for a commercial case. She told me that, although she’d been a paralegal for 25 years, she had never shopped for a trial consultant. I walked her through the process, provided her with information on […]

Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On February 25, 2021

If you think about it, and I certainly have, “We are moving in a different direction” or “We are moving in another direction” is meaningless drivel. This statement has somehow become common when it comes to rejecting job applicants, consultants’ proposals, and people, in general. In preparing for my part of David’s post, I have […]

Ghosting

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On February 18, 2021

Category: Business Frustrations, Common Courtesy, Entrepreneurship, Getting the Job Done, Jury Consultants, Litigation Consultants, Litigation Research, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Small Business Success, Trial Consultants

Ghosting. This is a relatively new term used to indicate what might otherwise be called “radio silence,” that is, a loss of communications. Despite the many ways we can now communicate, via email, text, direct messaging, “zoom” calls, or even the good old phone or maybe “snail” mail, it amazes me that we often end […]

Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On February 18, 2021

Ghosting is rude, unprofessional, and, when it comes to friends and family, mean. I have been ghosted on several occasions, by long time friends who chose to cut me out of their lives for unknown reasons. One of these friends remained out of touch for about 20 years, another, for 7 years, and another, 6 […]

No One Has Ever Said They Wish Their Jury Research Had Been Later

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On February 16, 2021

Category: Business Frustrations, Employment, Entrepreneurship, Getting the Job Done, Jury Consultants, Jury Research, Litigation Research, Litigation Tips, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, Trial Consultants, Trial Consulting

In almost 30 years of owning and operating Magnus Research Consultants, David and I have been fortunate to have few complaints from clients. When there have been complaints, they have been of the following type: (1) “Your report is too long and comprehensive; it took too long for me to read”; (2) ”The charts summarizing […]

Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On February 16, 2021

This topic is salient because I had the discussion again recently, “What is your lead time for conducting research? My client wants to put it off as long as possible, because maybe they can settle…” I patiently explained that the ramp up period, once we’ve provided a proposal, agreed on the research design, gotten approval […]

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Archive | Trial Consultants

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

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.

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.

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