CONTACT INFO: alan@trialmethods.com | 312.981.5252
CONTACT INFO: alan@trialmethods.com | 312.981.5252
focus groups | venue attitude surveys
This research format incorporates presentations for each side of the case in front of a live group of participants in the trial venue. The goal is to collect in-depth information about juror decision-making through individual questionnaires and simulated jury deliberations. While the basic format is consistent, the methodology is responsive to the overarching goals of the client. Mock juries offer insight into case themes, key arguments, witness testimony and the range of and rationale for damages.
If the key decision maker in your case is a judge, arbitrator, or mediator, Trial Methods will recruit a panel of mock judges, mock arbitrators, or mock mediators that approximate your actual decision maker. This format offers tremendous insight into what will work for the real hearing and what aspects of your case need improvement. Feedback from the panel refines strategy and enhances the prospect of winning.
A quick and informative way to learn about your trial venue. A Venue Attitude Survey evaluates relevant attitudes and opinions of jury-qualified members. Trial Methods is well versed in both phone and internet-based surveys. This service will generate a useful preview of what to expect at trial, and also build a strong juror profile using powerful statistical analyses. This time and cost efficient service can be used at many different junctures throughout the litigation process.
Theme development & strategy | witness prep | graphics
With or without the research conducted for the case, Trial Methods will help the trial team refine the case story, themes, witness testimony and demonstratives. Your legal team will ultimately understand the jury psychology that plays a pivotal role in your trial strategy. Problem areas will be identified along with workable solutions to overcome such challenges
A cost effective way to understand your trial landscape is the trial strategy memo. After reviewing case materials and learning about a case with the trial team, Trial Methods will write a memo that summarizes the crucial issues in the case, focuses on anticipated juror questions and answers, suggests key themes and arguments, and provides a comprehensive jury selection strategy. This roadmap helps ensure that you present the strongest case when it matters most.
Trial Methods works side-by-side with the lawyers to prepare both fact and expert witnesses, and identifies style and content problems that reduce the clarity or credibility of the intended message. Fully trained to recognize and correct problem areas in audience perception and bias, Trial Methods enhances verbal and nonverbal communication, presentation and delivery.
Trial Methods will attend the entire trial or key parts of it and look through an objective lens to let you know exactly what is working and what isn’t in enough time to affect change. Feedback is provided on overall impressions, jury reaction, messages, themes, witnesses and techniques that will help you make both strategic and tactical adjustments to your trial roadmap in real-time.
plus tiral-tested voir dire questions
Voir dire is a glimpse into deliberations, and cases are won and lost at this crucial phase of trial. Trial Methods helps develop, organize and implement voir dire questions to preview how jurors are going to make the key decisions in the case. Jurors harbor biases and prejudices which will shape their case assessments. We empower you to unearth such biases, and make the most intelligent use of your strikes.
Use of a supplemental juror questionnaire leads to a much more efficient and streamlined voir dire. Given the privacy involved, jurors are much more candid and comfortable discussing certain experiences and expressing certain attitudes than they are in open court. Use of the questionnaire identifies key areas for follow up and provides insight into panelists before voir dire commences.
With over 25 years of experience, hundreds of juries selected, and thousands of mock jurors analyzed, Alan Tuerkheimer of Trial Methods can provide case-specific juror profiles. These profiles indicate what constitutes both a good juror and a bad juror for your case. It always helps when picking a jury to start off with a clear sense of the type of juror that will argue your case in deliberations as well as a “must strike” juror.
To provide daily feedback on a trial, Trial Methods will organize and conduct a “shadow jury” consisting of three to six jury-eligible residents from the venue. Shadow jurors will observe trial every day, just like the actual jurors. During lunch and at the end of each trial day, shadow jurors will provide individual feedback through interviews and written questionnaires. Feedback will be synthesized, the trial team debriefed, and key findings incorporated into trial strategy.
