At times, damages requested by a plaintiff are very large, or even excessive. Social science research finds that even when the amount requested is large, or even excessive, jurors award more money (though perhaps not all that is requested)...

In principle, all jurors are created equal. In practice, this equalitarian ethic is seldom realized. The fact of the matter is that dominance hierarchies develop and juries consist in predictable ways of leaders, participants and followers. Prior experience is one factor that affects these dominance hierarchies because it affects a juror's participation in deliberations...

Jurors often are presented with some negative outcome (e.g., an injured plaintiff), and are asked to assess whether that outcome was foreseeable or preventable. Jurors frequently are unable to ignore the outcome information when reaching verdicts. Jurors "Monday-morning quarterback" and exhibit "20-20 hindsight." This "hindsight bias" is especially likely to produce liability judgments...

Attorneys can seek to discredit an expert witness in cross-examination by using (a) either leading or non-leading questions asked in (b) either a hostile or non-hostile style. Gibbs and colleagues (1989) investigated how effective different questioning styles are...

In criminal cases, jurors frequently are instructed in, and given a verdict form with, multiple verdict options in the form of lesser included charges. The most severe verdict option (e.g., murder) is instructed first, with lesser included options (e.g., manslaughter) decided afterwards. The sequence in which jurors make decisions influences the verdicts they reach...

Attorneys have considerable control over the verdict form provided civil juries. At times, a general verdict form is used, where the jury is called on to answer one or two global questions . At other times, the jury answers a series of specific questions relating to the material issues in the case. The type of verdict form jurors receive can influence their verdicts. Schmidt and Diamond (1998) examined the effect of verdict forms on liability judgments in a products liability case. Jurors given a general verdict form were nearly twice as likely...

The general safety practices of a company, even when unrelated to the case at hand, can influence jurors' products liability verdicts...

Almost 20% of the U.S. population age 5 and older speak a language at home other than English. Ewing and colleagues (2008) recently studied whether the language in which a plaintiff testifies influences the outcome in a personal injury trial...

Hispanic defendants can be represented by attorneys of the same or a different race. Espinoza (2005) studied jurors' treatment of Mexican American defendants when they were represented by either a Mexican American or a European American attorney...

Kassin and Garfield (1991) investigated whether jurors are influenced by crime scene videotapes. As part of the presentation of a murder case, some jurors viewed a crime scene videotape of close-ups of a bloodied young man who had been stabbed to death and left lying in the street. Other jurors did not see the crime scene video. Jurors viewing the crime scene video...