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Jury Consulting

Jury consulting came into its own during the O.J. Simpson trial, when a jury consultant named Jo-Ellan Dimitrius picked the jury that found him not guilty. She did the same for basketball player Jayson Williams, found not guilty of manslaughter April 30.

These days, it’s hard to find a big case without experts in human behavior involved.

When you are preparing for complex litigation, a team of seasoned trial consultants carefully develops persuasive case themes integrated with thoughtful graphics and a deep understanding of the triers of fact. Jury consultants deliver the insight you need to be certain that your strategy, evidence presentation and expert witness testimony all tell a story that will resonate with jurors.

A jury consulting team scrutinizes how jurors relate to case facts and how they make their decisions. Social-psychologists, criminologists and legal experts employ a variety of data-gathering tactics — focus groups, community attitude surveys, jury simulations, mock trials in a Digital Court Facility and shadow juries — that help determine how a jury will view your case. The analysis of these responses forms the basis for developing case strategy, selecting key evidence and creating effective trial graphics that will articulate key facts and reinforce critical themes in your case.

Litigation always involves risks. With the right trial & jury consultants, it doesn’t have to be a gamble. Our mission is simple: To provide you the best jury research, jury consulting and strategy advice tips, tools and resources offered in the legal community. Links to professionals who conduct research, develop analysis and give jury selection assistance that helps you better manage your litigation risks, craft more persuasive cases and identify jurors who are beyond persuasion. Jury consultants are graduate trained social scientists with significant research experience and significant trial experience. They work with clients of all kinds, ranging from solo litigators to complex multiparty trial teams, individual plaintiffs and defendants, to large government entities and corporations. Let us bring our litigation insight to your toughest trial problems.

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Jury Research Institute: provides a full range of trial consulting services including mock trials, focus groups, surveys, witness workshops, and jury selection.

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Jury Solutions: Whether our research helps you seize victory or avert disaster, we can promise you a clear-eyed strategy that will help you make the best possible decisions for both you and your client.

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Trial Insights: is a consulting firm specializing in litigation and communications consulting.

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Despite the stated goal of choosing the most competent people to serve on a jury, the actual goal of the opposing attorneys in the jury selection process is to try to select jurors who are perceived as most likely to favor their side and to eliminate potential jurors likely to favor the opposition. Both the prosecution and defense seek information about characteristics of prospective jurors that might indicate a tendency to favor one side or the other. Lawyers sometimes hire “jury consultants” to help in the selection of jurors. What expertise do these jury consultants have that helps them choose people for a jury? What do they and lawyers look for in potential jurors that helps them decide whether or not they will be sympathetic to one side or the other? How important are race, gender, and occupation in selecting a jury?

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In 1968, Congress passed the Jury Selection and Service Act, a law that provided that the jury pool consist of all eligible voters and that names be selected as needed on a random basis, like a lottery. There is some question as to whether this system of selection works to ensure a true cross-section of the community.

Some people are excused from jury service for reasons such as visual blindness, inability to speak the language, or a criminal record. Elderly people, people responsible for young children, students, and some occupational groups such as doctors, nurses, and clergy are permitted to decline or postpone their service. The ease with which people can remove themselves from jury service is one reason that, while eighty million Americans have been called for jury duty in the state and federal court, fewer than half of those called have ever sat on a jury.

Litigation Support Services and consultants facilitate litigation, offering services including translation and interpretation services, jury consultation, medical and scientific consultation, witness preparation, claims administration, and consultation directly related to specific types of trial and appellate cases and issues.