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Online focus groups are more popular than ever as the Internet has made it cheaper and faster to get mock jurors to log on and cast their “verdicts” on cases.

Attorneys can upload information about their cases and request mock jurors from their geographic regions to read and answer questions.

The main advantages are speed and cost. You can get responses from mock jurors as fast as tomorrow, and they can cost as little as $1,000.

Three sample companies are: Jury Test, eJury and Trial Juries.

David Swanner, a Myrtle Beach, S.C. personal injury attorney, says he occasionally uses online focus groups as an alternative to in-person groups because “you can find out a lot of information quickly, cheaply and easily.”

Another tool that online services offer, according to Swanner, are pie charts and qualitative data dissecting how different jurors decide a case.

“You can slice and dice the information to see how the demographics fall out much more than with regular focus groups,” he observes.

But how good are they? This type of “do-it-yourself” jury research has its share of critics.

“There is no expertise offered [for] the design of the questions or interpretation of the results,” says Edward Schwartz, a jury consultant in Lexington, Mass. “Running a focus group as an attorney without the assistance of a jury behavior expert is a little bit like someone deciding to go into court by themselves.”

A big disadvantage is that online focus groups do not simulate the deliberation process.

“A jury deliberation is an intensely personal and interactive experience,” says Schwartz, “and viewing a case online and answering a questionnaire is an intensely impersonal and solitary activity.”

A mock juror who logs on, reads a case and offers his or her opinion, for example, may behave very differently in a jury room full of other jurors with differing opinions.

Another potential disadvantage is the sample group.

Internet focus group companies maintain a stable of mock jurors via online advertising. As a result, the jury pool may be biased toward more tech-savvy people – or worse – professional mock jurors.

Schwartz recommends limiting the use of online jurors to getting their gut-feelings about your case or a particular issue within your case.

Adam Rosen, an attorney, practicing psychologist and CEO of JuryTest in Boston, says online focus groups allow lawyers to get jury feedback even in smaller cases.

“You don’t have to have a multi-million dollar case to justify it. You can present it today and have feedback tomorrow,” he says.

Rosen’s company has expanded its technology to allow attorneys to present cases by telephone and upload video of mock testimony or visual evidence in the case. Mock jurors click on the audio and video and can give their responses in minutes.

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