Attorneys face a dilemma when they present information to an audience. The
dilemma is that the audience cannot give them feedback on how they are doing
until it is too late. Other performance-type jobs have instant feedback built
right in — actors, public speakers, athletes — so they always know exactly how
they are doing in real time. Courtroom rules, however, prohibit attorneys from
getting this real time feedback from the people who count the most — the
jury.
This roundtable teaches attorneys how focus groups and mock trials can assist
them in filling that feedback void — that “black hole” or Bermuda
Triangle. Valuable, case-specific data can be generated to shape your
presentation and strategies in preparation for settlement conferences,
mediation/arbitration, voir dire and for the trial itself. Generating this
valuable feedback ahead of time gives attorneys that winning edge.
Topics include:
- How to make presentations understandable and memorable to an audience;
- How jurors will likely process facts through their natural biases;
- Which types of jurors might be irreversibly biased against their side of
the case; and
- What arguments can change opinions 180 degrees.
This program will include a live focus group to discuss a sample case.
Attendees will have the opportunity to question focus group participanet at the
end of their discussion.
The faculty will be available to meet with program attendees after the
roundtable.
Faculty:Daniel Dugan, Ph.D., program chair
Trial Science Inc., Reno
Laura Arnold, Esq.
Trial Science Inc., Reno
Sponsoring Sections: Civil Litigation Section
Juvenile and Child Welfare Section
Related Practice Areas: General Civil Law