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Jury mediation: a new tool to resolve cases

By: Richard Gabriel
Published: March 24, 2011

Tags: juries, jurors, jury mediation, mock juries, settlement negotiations, settlements

Lawyers USA columnist Richard Gabriel has spoken to hundreds of attorneys, judges and mediators about their mediations and settlements over the past year, and has found that the question of whether to settle or take a case to trial contains a fundamental risk analysis: How can a litigant obtain better information to either resolve a case or let a jury check the boxes on a verdict form? To address these concerns, Gabriel has begun conducting jury mediations.

Mistakes lawyers make with their experts 

By: Sylvia Hsieh
Published: March 14, 2011

Tags: expert preparation, expert witnesses, juries, jurors

At best, expert testimony can be the viewfinder that brings blurry evidence into focus for the jury. At worst, an expert witness can confuse, bore or offend a jury.

What neuroscience can teach lawyers about how jurors use evidence 

By: Richard Gabriel
Published: February 2, 2011

Tags: juries, jurors, neuroscience

As with muscular and even intellectual skill, our brains also learn emotions and form our own idiosyncratic pattern of reasoning based on how we grew up and our practiced behaviors. Lawyers USA Columnist Richard Gabriel explores what neuroscience can teach trial lawyers about how jurors use evidence.

What they see is what you get

By: Correy Stephenson
Published: January 28, 2011

Tags: juries, jurors, visual identity

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a real, live plaintiff or defendant sitting in front of a jury worth?

It could be the key to your case.

From a plaintiff’s jewelry to a defendant’s suit to the appearance of family members who stop by the trial, jurors are taking in everything they see and factoring it into their deliberations.

Trial Strategy: Should lawyers monitor jurors online? 

By: Correy Stephenson
Published: December 21, 2010

Tags: ethics, Facebook, juries, jurors, social media, social networking, Twitter

With more than 500 million people on Facebook, it should come as no surprise that jurors are players in the world of social media. And it seems that each week, a story surfaces about a juror tweeting her plan to convict a defendant, or posting on Facebook that he plans to find for the plaintiff – before deliberations even begin.

Online jury questionnaire system rolling out across the country 

By: Peter Vieth
Published: November 24, 2010

Tags: eJuror, jurors, jury questionnaires

Federal clerks’ offices are lightening their paperwork loads and providing more useful information to lawyers about jurors through a new online juror questionnaire system rolling out around the country.

Jury consulting on a shoestring 

By: Nora Tooher
Published: November 15, 2010

Tags: 20 Things Lawyers Need to Know in 2011, graphics, juries, jurors, jury consulting, jury research, recession, trial consulting, virtual shadow juries

Facing a clampdown on litigation spending, jury consultants are offering a broad range of new, low-cost, online trial research and graphics tools.

iPad tech tools for 2011 

By: Sylvia Hsieh
Published: November 15, 2010

Tags: 20 Things Lawyers Need to Know in 2011, iPad, juries, jurors, technology

Lawyers who began auditioning the iPad in and out of court earlier this year are discovering new apps every day and anticipating more uses in 2011.

Florida issues new jury instructions on Internet use 

By: Correy Stephenson
Published: November 11, 2010

Tags: electronic communications, Facebook, juries, jurors, jury instructions, social media, Twitter

Florida has joined an increasing number of jurisdictions in addressing concerns about jurors’ use of electronic communications by issuing new jury instructions for both civil and criminal cases.

Preparing a witness to increase credibility

By: Richard Gabriel
Published: October 29, 2010

Tags: juries, jurors, witness preparation

Lawyers USA Columnist Richard Gabriel advises trial lawyers on how to increase witnesses’ ability to communicate authentically in order to make them more credible. He provides tips on what questions to ask your witnesses during trial and ideas on how to better engage the jury.