When mistakes are made in social situations, the appropriate response is to apologize. When professionals make mistakes while providing services, an apology has the potential to expose professionals to litigation and findings of liability. When a mistake is made, can a professional offer a statement of remorse, rather than an apology, without incurring liability and damages? A statement of remorse is an expression of sadness about an event that lacks any admission of responsibility or fault (e.g., "I am sorry for the unfortunate death of Xavier", "I am sorry you had a myocardial infarction"). Bornstein and colleagues (2002) examined the

Jurors often assign greater responsibility to corporate defendants than individuals for the same behavior...

Jurors' attitudes about lawsuits and the state of the justice system in America often predict their verdicts. An extreme plaintiff-leaning juror believes victims should always be compensated, regardless of fault. An extreme defense-leaning juror believes people are too quick to sue, that damage awards are excessive and must be curtailed, and is against awarding money solely on the basis of pain and suffering. Hans and Lofquist (1994) studied jurors' litigation crisis attitudes...

Oppenheimer (2003) analyzed every employment law jury verdict in California in 1998 and 1999, a total of 389 cases, and concluded that women and minorities have low success rates. In the 389 jury trials studied, juries found for plaintiffs just over...

Many studies have been done over the years to determine if bench and jury trials yield similar or different results. Judges and juries often agree. For example:...

Frequently, jurors are asked to vote for manslaughter rather than murder due to a defendant's emotions overcoming the defendant's reason at the time of a killing. Spackman et al. (2002) examined factors jurors take into consideration when determining whether a defendant's emotions serve as mitigating circumstances to reduce a murder charge to a verdict of manslaughter...

In consent-defense rape cases, a complainant's status as a victim is at issue: Is she a victim of rape, or did she consent to sex? Certain complainants are more likely to be seen as rape victims, and certain jurors are more likely to see them that way. Women with certain attributes are more likely to be accorded rape victim status. Christie (1986) reports that a woman most readily accorded rape victim status has 5 attributes:...

The jurors in the Scott Peterson trial recommended the death penalty, and afterwards commented that Scott Peterson looked "cold and unemotional" during the trial. Did Scott Peterson's demeanor affect jurors' recommendation of a death sentence? Two recent research studies report that emotionally impassive defendants are convicted more often and punished more severely. Heath and Grannemann (2004) studied how the amount of emotion displayed by a defendant influenced conviction rates...

The increased lifetime risk of death from asbestos exposure for particular air concentrations is a calculable quantity, and is often considerably less than the risk of death from other substances such as smoking, saccharin in soft drinks, chest X-rays, aflatoxin in peanut butter, and radiation from living in a brick house. Two studies conducted 12 years apart by different researchers - Slovic et al. (1990) and Johnson (2002) - reached similar findings on the value of a defendant offering such risk comparison information in an asbestos trial...

Stealing thunder is when an attorney reveals potentially incriminating evidence first (before the other side can) for the purpose of reducing its negative impact on jurors or other decision-makers. Stealing thunder is a highly effective tactic for handling negative information. Recent research by Dolnik et al. (2003) investigated what, if anything, might limit the effectiveness of stealing thunder as a persuasion tactic...