The goal of equality before the law depends on judges setting aside their biases. Judicial codes of ethics and judicial oaths demand that judges disregard prejudices based on race, gender, ethnicity, or other outsider status. . Judges make decisions differently based on the in-group or out-group status of a litigant....

The law assumes that proof beyond a reasonable doubt, clear and convincing evidence, and preponderance of evidence are standards of proof providing defendants with different degrees of protection on a sliding scale, with beyond a reasonable doubt providing the most protection. White and Cicchini (2019) tested whether jurors distinguish between the high burden required by proof beyond a reasonable doubt and the lower burdens of proof required by clear and compelling evidence and preponderance of the evidence. A total of 495 jury-eligible adults in 45 states....

Opportunities for deception are common in negotiations, and expectations about negotiation deception matter. Mason and colleagues (2018) conducted eight studies on negotiation deception. Five studies identified the nature of negotiators' expectations about negotiation deception. Three studies tested how negotiators' expectations about others' ethical practices influence negotiators' own decisions to be deceptive or honest in negotiations....

In a legal case, misinformation consists of any faulty information that an eyewitness receives after a crime takes place. Morgan and colleagues (2103) studied how misinformation provided during a highly stressful experience influences eyewitness memories for the identity of a person.....

Using a general versus specific verdict form can affect the liability decision made by a jury. 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 to favor the plaintiff as those with the special verdict form....Burd (2018) explored how liability decisions are influenced by the type of verdict form used and the necessity to justify the liability verdict in a defamation case....

Pre-trial publicity (PTP) related to a case often is both sided and slanted, emphasizing primarily negative information in an unbalanced manner about either the defendant or the injured party. Ruva and Guenther (2017) examined how juries made up of jurors exposed to various types of negative pre-trial publicity differ in their deliberations and decision-making from juries comprised of jurors exposed either to no PTP or only one type of PTP....

Evidence can be presented to jurors both verbally and visually, and if visual, as either an illustrative or substantative demonstrative. A substantive demonstrative has independent probative force, providing independent proof of a fact at issue in the case. Illustrative aids give visual form to other evidence, but provide no independent proof of that other evidence. Park and Feigenson (2021) conducted three studies that examined the effects of demonstrative evidence on mock jurors' pain and suffering damage awards....