An oddity of my job as a jury/trial consultant is not being able to share the details of my work with family, friends, or anyone, ever. All of the cases in which Magnus consults are high stakes matters, regardless of whether they are civil or criminal trials. Everyone who is employed by Magnus, including David and me, are required by our clients to maintain strict confidentiality regarding their cases. Some of our clients, in fact, require everyone at Magnus who works on their case to sign confidentiality and non disclosure agreements as a prerequisite to our retention. Our work is

My first crazy courthouse story happened in the Lee County Courthouse in my hometown, Fort Myers, Florida and this post, the third in the series, is also about an event that happened in the Lee County Courthouse. As with rental cars, airplanes, hotels, and other places and things I frequent, I spend a lot of time in courthouses. I once had to count the number of jury selections in which I had been involved in order to testify as an expert witness and that count, many years ago, was almost 200. I have since lost count of the number of

Second in the series on crazy courthouse stories is the Courthouses of Florida idea I had while working in courthouses all over my home state of Florida. Over the years when I have worked for attorneys during the jury selection process, I have observed their fondness for courthouses. They often regale me with stories about a case they once had, or a judge they once knew, or a jury they once had on a big case, but, in addition, many of my clients express a nostalgic feeling about a certain courthouse due to its architecture or another feature. These expressions

Long time readers of David’s and my blog may remember the 5 part series we wrote, entitled “Crazy Mock Juror Story” and/or the 5 part series we wrote on “Crazy Lawyer Story.” We are always eager to share some of our funny, or at a minimum, entertaining, stories about the serious work we do on behalf of the attorneys who are our clients. In this 5 part series, I will share some of my more memorable “Crazy Courthouse Stories.” Some of these stories are funny, while others are tragic, but they all have in common their true life experience. The

I have been playing the bass guitar for almost 20 years and I am the proud owner of several bass guitars. I am not a collector; all of my basses are for my playing pleasure. As with many things in life, from time to time, one of my basses needs to be repaired, as was the situation recently. I have spent a lot of time around musicians, mostly guitarists; guitar techs; music store staff members; owners of music studios; etc. but I know only one luthier. For those who do not have any idea what or who a luthier is,

Those of us who work as trial/jury consultants usually thrive on the excitement of the research day, the day when we conduct our focus groups, mock trials, jury simulations, or employ other methods of data collection. These days, thanks to books, movies, and a certain popular television show, many people are aware of some of the things trial/jury consultants do to obtain information for our clients. However, in my work as a social psychologist who conducts litigation research, the research day represents a fraction of the work my staff and I perform on behalf of our clients. I recently considered

Some people, including attorneys and insurance adjusters who are potential clients of Magnus, are more focused on obtaining the lowest price for whatever they are buying than the quality of what they are buying. Other people, in contrast, want the very best products or services money can buy. Most people, of course, fall somewhere between these two extremes in their desire to buy something of quality for an affordable price. Magnus’ services have never, ever, been cheap. We are never the “low price leader” among jury/trial consultants. Therefore, when we determine a prospective client’s focus is on hiring the lowest

The reader may wonder, based on the title of this post, what is the connection between trial consulting and “The Simpsons.” No, trial consulting is not cartoonish, it is not usually funny, and our clients don’t say “D’oh!” like Homer Simpson when they are annoyed. The connection is merely time based and personal. I began my career as a trial consultant working for Litigation Sciences, Inc. (LSI) in August of 1989. “The Simpsons,” after appearing as a short feature on “The Tracey Ullman Show” for several years, debuted as a prime time sitcom on December 17, 1989. Since then, “The

Many people, including those who should know better, use stereotypes as a basis for making important decisions. Although, by definition, stereotypes can contain “a kernel of truth” (according to Dr. Gordon Allport, who coined the term), they are often incomplete and sometimes, wrong. A recent conversation with one of my clients prompts this post. The client, a well respected and experienced trial lawyer, called me recently to ask me whether I would agree with the premise that millennials are terrible jurors for plaintiffs in personal injury cases because they are self centered, entitled, uncaring, and cold hearted. I responded that,

I recently attended a meeting with an attorney, who is a client of mine, and the attorney’s client, the person who paid for my services. It is rare in my world of jury/trial consulting to attend a meeting that involves the “end client,” that is, the party to the litigation, as opposed to his/her/its attorney. (I include the pronoun, “its,” in that most of Magnus’ end clients are not individuals; rather, they are corporations represented by attorneys, who then retain my company.) The purpose of this meeting was to review an extensive written report I prepared, with the excellent help