2020 – Page 7 – The Red Well

Understanding Heightened Juror Emotions During the Pandemic

June 16th, 2020|

By Scott Herndon, M.A. Traumatic national events, like the COVID-19 pandemic elicit a broad range of emotions in potential jurors. Jurors, like all of us, worry about the safety of our family and loved ones, keeping jobs, the state of the economy, or the stress of taking on new family and educational responsibilities. Recently, we have conducted some national survey research and the data demonstrates that the pandemic has heightened many latent juror attitudes about the government, corporations, and many other institutions and business. These stressors and biases combine to create a mix of emotions that potential jurors bring

Tips for Defending Consolidated Cases

June 15th, 2020|

The Perils of Multi-Plaintiff Trials Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, judges across jurisdictions struggled to balance busy dockets and address their mounting caseloads. The consolidation of cases, particularly in the mass tort arena, has been one tool that judges have turned to in hopes of chipping away at the backlog. Despite opposition from the defense bar and the threat of appellate review, this may be a trend we’ll see more of as the courts struggle to play catch-up in the aftermath of coronavirus closures. And defendants have good reason to be concerned: Consolidated plaintiffs create new complications when it

Who Might Not Be on Your Jury in the “New Normal” Trial?

June 11th, 2020|

As our country has started to reopen, we have heard a lot about the “new normal”. It appears inevitable that social distancing and mask wearing will be a part of our public events for a long time. Courts across the country have started to adopt new normal practices to reopen the justice system. Early in the pandemic, a New York juror participated in the deliberation via video while others were in person. In Portland, Oregon, criminal trials have resumed with restrictions on numbers and space. In Texas, a Summary Trial in a civil matter was held over Zoom. Trials everywhere

Defund the Police: How Flawed Framing Undermines the Persuasive Effect

June 10th, 2020|

By Jill D. Schmid, Ph.D. I, like most of you, have probably been having some difficult conversations lately. The most difficult, though, are not just steeped in real ideological differences, but in the ways in which the issues are being framed. For years, there have been a debates and differences of opinion about what “Black Lives Matter” and the “Take a Knee” movement truly mean. The framing of those phrases and movements likely moves someone in one particular direction over another. This past week, another phrase has come about that is doing the same thing: “defund the police.” I want

The American Jury Trial: The Way Forward

June 4th, 2020|

The courts closing all around the country was jarring to many of us in litigation and litigation support. Since our jury consulting firm opened in 1978, it had never happened. As of this writing, courts around the country are weighing their options on how they can get on with the essential process of delivering justice. Jury deliberations in New York have taken place with one of the jurors participating remotely. Socially distant jury trials are currently underway in Portland, Oregon, for criminal matters. In Texas, a Summary Trial was held in a civil matter and every participant was remote. The

Black Lives Matter: Account for Awakening Views

June 4th, 2020|

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: Only recently, we had a 24-7 news bubble on the coronavirus pandemic, and it didn’t seem like anything could break it. Now, however, our television screens are filled with scenes of protest and violent confrontation. The national outrage following the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis on May 25th, has boiled over into demonstrations, curfews, and conflicts in most major American cities. The protests against police violence, along with what many would call an over-militarized response, has yielded continuing examples of exactly what they’re protesting. All in all, it is another reminder

Success! One of the First In-Person Mock Trials in the Age of COVID

June 1st, 2020|

Mock jurors sit at least six feet apart with masks and other health and safety measures in place. By Jill D. Schmid, Ph.D. It was awesome to get back to conducting in-person mock trial research this past weekend! While things looked a bit different, it still checked off all the boxes for a successful project and, as always, we gained some incredibly important insights that will help us prepare for trial. Part of the reason this project was so important is because so many attorneys are wondering if mock trial research is even possible in the coming months. The answer

Working Remote – Transparency

May 28th, 2020|

In this time of forced social distancing, with many people working remotely from home or on quarantine, I have been using some of my time to make calls or otherwise contact clients about outstanding proposals, etc. I always have a stack of people to call upon, so I’ve been reaching out. The results of these contacts have been enlightening on an issue I hadn’t considered. That is, how lawyers, and their staff, “manage” the impressions they create when working remotely. Melissa and I have, for a long time, worked remotely. Our “real” work always has a remote component when

What’s Your Superpower? Barriers for Attorney Presentation in Zoom Depositions

May 27th, 2020|

By Jill D. Schmid, Ph.D. For years, I’ve successfully avoided Facetime calls and most video conferences. However, around 9 weeks, 2 days, 13 hours, and 42 minutes ago, that all changed. Not only did all of my work transition to video conferences, but so did my communication with my family and friends. Houseparty and Zoom are my new normal and I have to say, it’s not all bad! Yes, there are all the headaches we’ve known about for years: everyone talking over each other, followed by silence as everyone stops to let others continue; the frozen feed followed by everyone

When Can Reframing Create Juror Backlash?

May 27th, 2020|

Say you represent a company that makes a product people widely have negative opinions about. Luckily, you come up with a different description of the product that makes it sound more positive: For example, your client is in the vaping industry and you want jurors to think of vape pens in a positive light. To accomplish this, you might describe vaping as “healthy” or call a vape pen a “smoking cessation device” – despite the fact that the cartridge at issue contains nicotine. Or perhaps your client used asbestos in its product, so you use the phrase “insulation material” rather