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 We helped pioneer the emerging field of trial consulting in 1981. We are one of the most experienced jury research and trial consulting firms in the country.
We use science and experience to develop winning trial strategies that focus on the behavioral component of how a jury arrives at a verdict.
We offer doctorate-level expertise at all levels of consulting, research, analysis and reporting. Sophisticated research and consulting activities are never delegated to non-doctored subordinates. JBR scientists and trial consultants include doctorates in social psychology, clinical psychology, statistics, market research, and law. We have affiliates in most major cities throughout the U.S. to provide you with local knowledge of the trial venue.
A few of our publications:
- Jury Signs: Coded messages from the jury box. Physicians Insurance Association of America. Second Quarter, 2009.
- Testing the Comparative Negligence Affirmative Defense. For The Defense. Volume 43: No. 12. 2001.
- Exposing juror misconduct. Rx Lexis Law Publishing Law & Medicine Report. Volume 2: No. 1. 1999.
- Objection! This case is going to settle anyway! (So, why do research?). Rx Lexis Law Publishing Law & Medicine Report. Volume 1: No. 1. 1998.
- How to select a jury research and consulting firm. In Zaremski, Miles J. and Frank D. Heckman, Supplement to Reengineering Healthcare Liability Litigation. Virginia: Michie Law Publishers. 1998.
- Managing jury trials. In Zaremski, Miles J. and Frank D. Heckman, Reengineering Healthcare Liability Litigation. Virginia: Michie Law Publishers. 1997.
- How to use expert public opinion testimony. The Practical Lawyer. Volume 35: No. 6. 1989.
- Juries and child death cases. Case & Comment. Volume 94: No. 6. 1989.
- Pre-trial assessments make witness testimony pay off. Risk Management. June, 1989.
Jurors rely on more than the evidence presented to them. They incorporate their own experiences, values and attitudes to augment the importance of testimony that confirms their belief systems, and to discount testimony that contradicts their beliefs. This results in a process of selective perception that affects jurors' interpretations of the facts and distorts their memory of testimony.
Our job is to uncover the underlying motivations and belief systems that drive juror perceptions. We translate that knowledge into usable trial tactics.
Research shows that jurors cognitively organize and recall evidence based on just a few conclusions formed early in the case. These are their Persuasion Icons™. They are usually based not only on the evidence and arguments presented, but also on jurors’ own attitudes, experiences, and world views.
Identifying and presenting a case built around the appropriate Persuasion Icons™ for that case is pivotal in managing the course of jury deliberations and the ultimate outcome of the case. Every argument and piece of evidence must be anchored to the specific Persuasion Icons that jurors will use to decide the case.
Our job is to research, develop and recommend specific Persuasion Icons™ for your case. All of our pre-trial research and consultation services are based on the belief that trials are won when the presentations are directed to maximize juror understanding and comprehension. We will make recommendations about how to organize and present witnesses and other evidence.
The last thing any trial attorney needs on the eve of trial is a 300 page report comprised of page after page of tables, graphs, and appendices filled with verbatim responses or transcripts. While such a “data dump” may look substantive, it offers little guidance to the trial team.
Our clients expect us to reduce the data down to real world, practical, trial tactics that can be used in court. They expect our strategic recommendations to be data-based, science-driven, and guided by experience. They expect us to be able to account for our recommendations; but they do not want to become data analysts. That’s what they hired us to do for them.
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