Archives – Page 50 – The Red Well

The Truth Told Well and Medical Care Plus Medical Caring: Medical Malpractice Witness Preparation

May 21st, 2020|

I recently presented to a national medical insurance organization as part of a panel concerned with the explosion in medical malpractice jury verdicts in recent years. The panel, “Buckle Up for a Bumpy Ride…Navigat[ing] Social Inflation Turbulence,” focused on identifying some of the key influences behind the rise of these larger medical malpractice jury verdicts and providing insight on practical prescriptions to the problem. The consensus on the panel was that: (1) the social inflation in a medical malpractice verdict is not only trending, but rose sharply in 2019; (2) that the role of jury demography – and specifically

WARNING: Be Wary of Research About How the Pandemic Impacts Jury Decision-Making

May 20th, 2020|

By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. It is the question on every litigator’s mind: What impact, if any, will the pandemic have on jury decision-making once trials resume? Will there be more goodwill towards businesses because of the economic toll the pandemic has taken? Will perceptions of a widening rich/poor gap perpetuate social inflation and nuclear verdicts? The questions go on and on and it is important to have answers to them. I expect that many organizations will purport to have those answers, but those answers might be misleading or flat-out wrong for one very important reason. While everyone wants to

An Insider’s Guide to the Operations and Methods of NPEs

May 15th, 2020|

NPEs are well-positioned to take advantage of the economic fallout on the patent market due to the impact of COVID-19. In Book One of our new e-book series, we look at the NPE acquisition outlook for 2020 in light of the ongoing financial crisis. Download the free e-book, “The Impact of Economic Distress on Patent Availability to NPEs.” The post An Insider’s Guide to the Operations and Methods of NPEs appeared first on DOAR.

The Important Connection between September 11, COVID-19, and Jury Decision-Making

May 14th, 2020|

By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. As the country starts to re-open and jury trials resume, it is our job to research and understand what impact the pandemic and the stay-at-home orders that lasted over two months in some states will have on how jurors evaluate liability and damages going forward. There are many ways to approach this kind of research. For example, we just completed on of the largest surveys we have ever conducted in order to get specific answers to some of the questions we know attorneys and general counsel will have. We are currently in the process of

PowerPoint’s Clipboard Tool: Copying Slides Between Trial Presentations with Ease

May 13th, 2020|

A common challenge our clients face is resolving problems created when moving slides from one PowerPoint presentation to another. Most of the time it works well enough – but occasionally, copying from one presentation and pasting into another can completely mess up your fonts, colors, and more. Results range from ugly to borderline illegible, depending on the degree of difference between the source and destination decks. This post will show you, step by step, how to undo those unwanted changes and use the PowerPoint Clipboard tool to re-paste your slides the way you intended them to look. Using PowerPoint’s Clipboard

Don’t Forget About Ethos

May 8th, 2020|

Dr. Anthony Fauci has it all. From a standpoint of persuasion and credibility, he is the full package, whose presence at a podium jumps beyond his modest 5’ 8” frame. In a recent poll conducted by the University of Northern Florida, Dr. Fauci had the approval of 85% of registered Florida voters, nearly doubling that of the President’s approval as a reliable source of information. Dr. Fauci is straightforward but calm, expert but accessible, serious but pleasant, authoritative but likable. Just the other day, in the White House press briefing, he made a passionate appeal (pathos) about social distancing based

Preparing for a Remote Deposition

May 7th, 2020|

By now you have heard of, or even participated in, a deposition taking place remotely via a webcam-based platform. In cases where depositions could not wait, the legal community was forced to adapt to the changing rules limiting in-person meetings. While it seems like restrictions may ease by summer (at least enough to accommodate 6-8 people in a large conference room), the virtual medium may remain an appealing option for some, especially those where geographical distance between attorneys and the deponent is a factor. Remote depositions may be a new form of our work, but the rules for preparation are

How Does The COVID Pandemic Impact Mock Trials and Focus Groups?

May 7th, 2020|

By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. We have officially entered the eighth week of the stay-at-home order in Washington State. Six days ago, our governor announced there would be no jury trials in the state until at least July. During this time, we have had at least a dozen cases across the country that were supposed to go to trial, but now await an uncertain future. In the next few months, we have another dozen cases that are supposed to go to trial, but those are uncertain, too, as courts will surely be dealing with enormous scheduling challenges. Fortunately, we have

How Do You Combat Confirmation Bias?

April 30th, 2020|

“I’ve just heard too many stories about corporations trying to profit at the expense of the ‘little guy.’” “Everyone sues for everything nowadays. There are too many frivolous lawsuits.” The greedy corporation. The sue-happy plaintiff. If all the world’s a stage, many people in the audience have a clear idea of who the villain and hero will be when it comes to lawsuits. Although the ultimate goal of a jury trial is to present the case to an unbiased panel, in reality no juror comes in to the courtroom as a blank slate. Pre-existing attitudes, beliefs, and opinions all affect

Jury Research Amid COVID-19

April 23rd, 2020|

In early March, most of the business world was faced with the question, “How are we going to continue business as usual?” Today, the question seems to be, “Are we going to return to business as usual?” As of now, the answer to that question changes day to day. Although many trials have been put on standby, attorneys continue preparing for and attending mediations and settlement discussions. That means there are some research questions that cannot wait. As we watch to see how and when we return to normal, Tsongas has been actively working on adapting our small group jury