Tips For Choosing a Trial Image Consultant

Are you in the process of searching for the perfect trial image consultant in Ft. Lauderdale or Miami? If so, then you may be feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of the different options that are available to you. With so many different consultants out there, how can you possibly know which one is the right fit for your needs?

There are a few key things that you will want to keep in mind as you are searching for a trial image consultant. Here are five tips that will help you choose the right one:

1. Look for a consultant who has a lot of experience.

When it comes to choosing a trial image consultant, experience is definitely key. You want to work with someone who knows what they are doing and who can help you look your best.

Make sure to ask the consultant how long they have been doing this type of work. It is a good idea to hire a consultant with 5 or more years of experience, that way you can be reasonably assured that they know what they are doing.

Experience isn’t all about time in the business though; it also means the scope of cases and sectors you have dealt with. The best image consultants will have a wealth of experience with different kinds of clients, ranging from attorneys, in-house counsel, insurers, governmental entities, and companies.

2. Make sure the consultant has a good reputation.

You will also want to make sure that the consultant you choose has a good reputation. You don’t want to work with someone who is going to let you down or who is going to give you bad advice.

Do some research online to see what other people are saying about the consultant you are considering. Read reviews and testimonials to get a better idea of what others think of their services.

It is also a good idea to ask for referrals from people you know and trust, who have used an image consultant in the past. Your friends and family care about you, so they are less likely to recommend subpar services.

3. Look for an all-in-one trial team.

What’s better than one consultant? A whole coordinated team of them.

You should consider looking not just for a singular trial image consultant in Ft. Lauderdale, but for one that comes from a full-service litigation consulting firm that provides more than just trial image consultations. With so many different moving parts when it comes to trials, like research, trial, mediation, etc., you don’t want to have to worry about finding different consultants for each individual task.

A full-service litigation consulting firm can provide you with everything you need, from start to finish. This will make the trial process much easier for you in terms of organization and stress and will help ensure that your case is a success.

4. Consider the cost.

Of course, you will also want to consider the cost of hiring an image consultant. You don’t want to overspend on this service, but you also don’t want to skimp and end up with someone who is not qualified.

Get quotes from a few different consultants before making your decision. This will give you a better idea of what the average cost is for this type of service.

5. Make sure the consultant is a good fit for you.

Last but not least, make sure to choose a consultant who is a good fit for you. Don’t choose someone just for their qualifications; they also need to be someone who communicates in a way that you can handle. You essentially want to work with someone who you feel comfortable with and who understands your needs.

Take the time to interview a few different consultants before making your final decision. This will help you find the perfect one for you.

Miami Trial Image Consultants

There are many different image consultants to choose from, so take your time and find the right one for you. With a little bit of research, you will be able to find the perfect consultant to help you with your specific needs.

If you follow these five tips, you are sure to find the perfect trial image consultant in Ft. Lauderdale or Miami. Good luck!

The Role of Jury Consultants – Focus Litigation Consulting

You have seen on the news and on TV what’s inside the courtroom. There’s the prosecutor, the defendant, the judge, and the jury of course, but these are not the only figures participating in the courtroom. We are missing critical figures like sketch artists, stenographers, and jury consultants.

Today, we will look at the jury selection consultants and the jury consultant firms. Even if these figures are hidden in the background, their role is fundamental for the sake of the courtroom.

Who Are Jury Consultants?

Jury consultants are professionals who use research and psychology to provide information about the chances of a juror. They also help design a juror profile to understand how this person will be during jury selection. Furthermore, they assist attorneys in understanding how a juror might vote in a particular case. This is why jury consultant companies help design strategies for attorneys.

Types of Jury Consultants

• Jury selection experts: These professionals have many years of experience in jury selection and jury consulting. They use their expertise to help lawyers with jury selection.

• Jury selection analytics: These companies use data-driven methods to find jury consultants. The design of jury selection models helps lawyers to win jury trials.

What Do Jury Consultants do?

Jury consultants work with lawyers and clients in many different cases such as sexual harassment, wrongful termination, product liability, railroad litigation, and even high-profile murder trials. They help attorneys choose which jurors will be the most favorable for their case and strategize how to convince those jurors to see things the way they want through techniques like direct and cross-examination.

There are no official requirements for becoming a jury consultant, but most have an undergraduate degree in psychology or criminal justice. Most have law degrees or JDs (Juris Doctor), although some come from sales, marketing, computer science, journalism, or business.

Jury consultants firms are an essential component of the jury selection process. Every attorney wants to win their case, and many studies show that juries favor lawyers who use the most effective strategies. The role of a jury consultant is to provide information about how jurors may perceive specific arguments or why they tend to favor one lawyer over another.

Who Needs Jury Consultants?

Lawyers in civil litigation use jury consultants to help them win cases and convince jurors of the rightness of their case, especially when severe damages are involved. In criminal law, jury consultants can help develop an effective strategy to win a case. The defendant sometimes needs the consultant the most, but attorneys working for both sides use these professionals.

Why Jury Consultants Are Important

Jury consultants must select an unbiased jury for trial, which is vital because it helps remove disadvantages. This is done by understanding how the average person will react to the case and determining if they would be more inclined or disinclined to support one side over another. Consultants can streamline this process through vetting, considering background attitudes, and knowing the jury pool.

The information available on each prospective juror, the better the chance of selecting the right person for your case. This is an essential aspect because it helps eliminate preconceived notions about who would make a reasonable juror or not based on age, sex, occupation, race/ethnicity, and specific beliefs. The consultant must know who to pick for this essential role to have a strong case.

During the trial itself, consultants sit in court with the lawyers and offer real-time feedback on jurors’ reactions to help keep a pulse on how they are responding. They have the responsibility to point out any jurors who are reacting unfavorably, which can include being overly talkative, slouching in their chair, or even showing visible signs of anger. Good consultants stay engaged in this process throughout the trial and offer suggestions on making a compelling closing argument.

Although jury consultant firms help design a strategy to win a case, the attorneys who work on the claim are the final piece for winning the jurors. Attorneys can make a strong defense, either explicitly or implicitly, in their closing arguments by using agreeable language and appealing to jurors’ emotions. In most cases, juries will favor those who present themselves with confidence and exhibit traits that they find compelling.

Conclusion

Now that you understand jury consultants better, head over to our website for tips on hiring the “right” jury consultant. At the Focus Litigation firm, we are committed to sending you to the courtroom well prepared and ready with our jury selection experts.

Top 10 Fundamental Jury Trial Practice Tips

As a lawyer, you come to understand the importance of good jury practice. Jury trials can be expensive and complex, so you must do everything possible in advance to get the best result. Jury consultants are experts in this field, but if you are without one, here are 10 jury practice tips that will help your case along.

1) Know Your Client’s Story

It is easy to become bogged down in the small details as a lawyer, but you need to know your client’s story. It is sometimes surprising how little people know about each other, but their stories will help build a case at trial. You may need jury consultant advice to help you understand exactly what has gone on in this case so that you can tell it effectively in court.

2) Research Jury Composition

Jury composition can make a big difference to your case. Jury selection consultants generally start this process by having information on the demographics of the court. Study the jury lists and use this information for your purposes, at home or in court, to help you understand what kinds of people will be on your potential jury if selected.

3) Be Prepared

You must be prepared whether you are in the courtroom or outside it. Don’t over-prepare and get bogged down with too much information, but make sure you know your case inside out and back to front. This will not only give you greater confidence in yourself and your client when talking with a jury, but it will also give you what you need to deal with whatever comes your way during the trial.

4) Watch the Jurors

You should keep an eye on the jurors in the courtroom during preliminary hearings. It is easy to get distracted and caught up in the moment, but you must watch their expressions and reactions to different people involved in the case (yourself, your client, witnesses, etc.). This could make or break your case, especially if they are not reacting the way you expect.

5) Use Illustrative Evidence

Jurors are often big fans of visual evidence. This can be evidence you have prepared, like photos that will help tell your story. A picture is worth a thousand words, and pictures can bring a case to life for them. Photos of the scene where the incident happened in the courtroom, photographs of items involved in the case, images from social media – anything that helps them connect with your case will help you.

6) Use Engaging Expert Opinions

This is one of the most important jury trial tips. You want to provide expert testimony for credibility, but you don’t want to provide expert testimony that will confuse or bore your jury. An expert opinion is meant to enhance your case, so you need to make sure it helps tell your story, not detract from it. Use an engaging expert who isn’t afraid of speaking about their area of expertise and can translate between the jurors and what you are trying to say.

7) Be Confident

In a study published by PLOS ONE, the appearance of confidence in one individual caused their peers to perceive them as more competent, regardless of their actual talent. If you have done your groundwork and know your case inside out, your competence will come across naturally to the jury, but it doesn’t stop there. You need to show confidence in yourself so that they can not only see it logically but also sense it.

8) Work as a Team

The client and lawyer may not always agree on approaching a case, whether in court or out. But working as a team benefits everyone. You can gather information about the case together, meet with experts together, and present your arguments as a cohesive unit to the jury.

9) Simplify

You shouldn’t spend more time than is necessary on one line of questioning or one piece of evidence. Keep your arguments clear and concise, so you don’t lose the jury with unnecessary details or technicalities.

10) Use Effective Closing Arguments

You may have spent hours on your case, but the jury only has minutes to hear it. Use powerful language and concise points to get your message across to the jury. Don’t waste their time with minutiae, but remember to go back and cover everything you need to say in a way that sticks.

Conclusion

These tips are just the beginning of what a jury selection consultant can offer you and your case. Find out what other benefits go beyond simply making a connection with jurors and increasing the chance of winning the case. Reach out to Focus Litigation Consulting to go above and beyond these 10 jury trial tips!

How does Jury Selection Work in Florida

Jury selection is a process about which many people know very little. Many lawyers are unaware of the details and intricacies of this process. As you’re reading this, you may be preparing to select a jury for a case, and we’re here to help you through that process. Jury selection is undoubtedly an intimidating process, but you can be ready for anything with the correct information.

Think of our jury selection experts at Focus Litigation Consulting as your personal jury selection consultants as we dive into an examination of the jury selection process in Florida.

So, what is jury selection in the first place?

Well, jury selection is the process that attorneys on both sides of a case must go through to find an unbiased group of people who will be willing to serve as jurors. Before this process takes place, each juror-to-be will have received some information about the case in question. The purpose of jury selection is for both sides to find jurors who will give the defendant a fair trial, and it can be a tedious process with many rules and regulations.

Jury selection must be made right because of the significance of jury members in both criminal and civil cases. Jury members are responsible for choosing the verdict, which means they essentially hold someone’s life or livelihood in their hands. It is necessary that jury members feel completely impartial about everything that has happened before entering into deliberations.

1) Jury Summons

The jury summons is a jury-eligible individual’s notification to go to jury duty, and a summons can be sent to any jury-eligible individual by mail. A “jury-eligible” person is someone who is at least 18 years of age, a citizen of the United States and Florida, living in the jury’s local jurisdiction, and able to read and write English.

The records containing this information are updated frequently to represent this information accurately and delete records for persons who have been determined mentally incompetent, have committed a felony, or have been reported deceased.

Often, a jury summons is sent out weeks before the jury selection process is scheduled to begin. It will include things like the juror’s name, address, date of birth, and jury service information. It also provides general instructions on how jurors should report for jury duty, selection, and when they should be at the courthouse.

There may be instances in which you can be excused from these duties, but every jury-eligible citizen residing in a county must answer their jury summons.

2) Jury Selection Process

The jury selection process, also known as “Voir Dire,” is almost always done in a jury pool. During jury selection, both attorneys have an opportunity to question the prospective jury members on various topics, including their background, occupation, and general feelings regarding specific laws or cases. They will then choose from the pool based on their answers.

You can conduct this through a written questionnaire or in person, depending on the type of case being prosecuted.

SJQ

A written questionnaire, or SJQ, is frequently the more effective of these two because it encourages prospective jurors to be more forthcoming. It can be nerve-wracking to express your opinions to the entire courtroom, but the written questionnaire provides the prospective jurors with the opportunity to speak more freely.

In-person

On the other side, an in-person evaluation may provide deeper insight into your potential jurors’ value to the case because it allows for verbal and behavioral analysis. This can give lawyers a better idea of why someone is qualified as a juror and if they should be selected.

Often, it can be challenging to decide which methods and questions to use; in fact, most attorneys will make the wrong selections, which is why you should seriously consider outside help from jury selection specialists.

Conclusion

As you can see, jury selection is an arduous task, but it assures that criminal and civil cases are decided fairly. Attorneys are the gatekeepers of this process, meaning they have complete control over who makes it into the jury pool; however, it is essential to consult with jury selection experts so that you can have a successful case. When you need jury selections done right, contact us at Focus Litigation Consulting to get in touch with a professional jury selection consultant and reap the benefits of our comprehensive services.

The Role of the Litigation Attorney

Litigation attorneys, also known as litigators or trial attorneys, play one of the most essential roles in the civil courtroom. Litigation attorneys are involved in every step of the civil lawsuit process, and tasks may vary depending on the nature of the suit.

This post will detail the litigation attorney’s role in each step of the civil lawsuit process.

What Cases Does a Litigation Attorney Handle?

Litigation attorneys are legal professionals that represent either a plaintiff or defendant in a civil case. Not to be confused with criminal cases, civil cases involve legal disputes between two or more parties. Civil cases are filed by private parties, while the government files criminal cases.

Five of the most common civil cases are:

• Property disputes: disputes about property ownership or damage

• Torts: physical or emotional harm related to a person’s safety, the safety of their property, or financial security.

• Class action cases: a group of people who have all been injured by the same thing.

• Contract disputes: when one or more parties who have signed a contract cannot fulfill their obligations.

• Complaints against the city: if the local government refuses to settle outside of court, the complaints can be tried as civil cases.

While every civil case is unique, civil litigation attorneys follow a general set of steps when handling a civil suit.

Initial Assessment and Investigation

Before a lawsuit can be officially filed, the litigation attorney representing the plaintiff must research to determine if enough evidence exists to file a lawsuit. During this consultative stage, litigation attorneys spend time with the client to establish the facts that led to the dispute.

Depending on the nature of the dispute, litigation attorneys may locate and take witness statements. Once the initial assessment has been completed, litigation attorneys will advise clients to settle the case outside of court or let it go to trial.

Drafting Pleadings

The litigation attorney representing the plaintiff must initiate the lawsuit by drafting and filing a formal complaint and a summons. The defense attorney will typically prepare answers and counterclaims in response to the complaint during this stage.

After the initial assessment of evidence, the plaintiff’s attorney might draft any pretrial motions to strike or dismiss the evidence as they see fit.

Discovery

The discovery phase includes the exchange of all relevant information between the two parties. There are several tactics that a litigation attorney can use during this process, including interrogatories, depositions, evidence requests, and admission requests.

Interrogatories:

An interrogatory is a series of written questions served to the opposing party to be answered in writing. The answers to these questions may be used during a trial if the party’s answers change, as providing false information is considered perjury.

Depositions:

Like interrogatories, depositions are questions asked to the opposing party in an out-of-court setting; only depositions are oral, not written. Depositions are answered under oath and can be translated to written form to be used in court if needed.

Evidence Requests:

This strategy involves the litigation attorney from either side asking the opposing party to make available any piece of evidence pertaining to the case. This evidence may be physical such as documents, receipts, letters, and contracts, or electronic. Hiring a litigation strategist in Miami would help the litigation attorney discover and analyze any electronically stored information.

Admission Requests:

To save time and trouble during trial, parties may ask the opposition to admit or deny any facts under oath in written format.

Pre-Trial Preparation

Once a lawsuit has been formally filed and accepted, the litigation attorney must complete their final tasks before the trial begins. While continuing to consult and advise clients, litigation attorneys may request assistance from a Miami litigation strategist to prepare any witnesses who will be testifying on behalf of the client.

Depending on the available evidence and witnesses, litigation attorneys will develop a trial strategy that works best for their client. During the final preparation for trial, litigation attorneys must consider any possible arguments that may be made against their client.

Trial

Once the jury is selected, and the court proceedings are underway, the plaintiff’s litigation attorney will present the case and any relevant evidence, examine and cross-examine witnesses, argue motions, and make opening and closing statements.

The litigation attorney might choose to consult with a Miami litigation strategist to interview the jury post-trial.

Settlements

If a civil case does not make it to trial, the parties must develop a way to settle the dispute outside of the courtroom. In this case, litigation attorneys will negotiate with the opposing party to determine a reasonable settlement.

Once a settlement has been agreed upon through mediation or settlement conferences with the judge, the litigation attorney is responsible for creating agreements and releases based on the settlement.

Appeals

If a trial does not go as expected or does not end in a favorable result, litigation attorneys may choose to appeal on behalf of the client. A case cannot be appealed simply because the decision was unfavorable, but evidence proving the decision was wrong must be presented.

In the case of an appeal, litigation attorneys must identify the grounds for appeal, draft post-trial motions, collect evidence, and present the appeal before the appellate court.

Appointing the Help of a Litigation Strategist

Litigation strategists provide a range of services for every step of the litigation process. Focus Litigation Consulting, a Florida-based trial consulting firm with decades of experience, assists attorneys, in-house counsel, insurers, governmental entities, and companies in civil and criminal cases across the country.

Focus Litigation Consulting is available at any point during a legal case, whether it goes to trial, settlement, or an alternative dispute resolution. Focus Litigation Consulting can disclose what jurors want to know about the case by conducting focus groups, allowing for attorneys to streamline discovery accordingly.

With training in legal psychology, advocacy, image consulting, color analysis, communications, and body language, Focus Litigation Consulting can identify critical performance deficits and foresee potential pitfalls that even the most experienced attorney may miss.

Being an effective second-chair trial counsel

One of the most promising opportunities for an aspiring trial attorney is serving as a second chair counsel during a jury trial. The role of the second chair is crucial to a trial’s success, as well as the future success of the aspiring trial attorney.

This post will tell you what you need to know on your way to becoming an effective second chair trial counsel!

The Role of the Second Chair

The second chair counsel is responsible for ensuring that everything runs smoothly during the trial. Serving as a second chair is some of the best training an attorney can get.

The duties of the second chair include:

• Keeping track of everything that happens behind the scenes
• Preparing exhibits
• Preparing witnesses
• Preparing jury instructions
• Maintaining a record for appeal

The majority of your contributions as the second chair will come from the counsel’s table rather than the podium, but your hard work will not go unrecognized.

Continue reading to learn some of the essential skills and duties necessary to become an effective second chair.

Communication

Communication skills are great to have in any career and are especially important when working with a team.

Establishing a clear line of communication with the lead attorney will expedite any meetings, especially when preparing pretrial documents. Trials are stressful enough, so scheduling pretrial meetings is essential.

If serving as the second chair is a learning experience for you, feel free to ask questions to the lead attorney at any point. It is better to ask questions as soon as they arise so you can keep on track.

Having a good working relationship with the lead attorney will make both of your lives easier. Attorney Miles B. Cooper suggests that a second chair’s relationship with the lead attorney should be to make their job easier.

If you are preparing any witnesses, make them feel comfortable through your communication and body language. If a witness is not comfortable during the preparation period, they may not feel comfortable in the courtroom, which could damage the effectiveness of their testimony.

There is a great chance that your witness has never testified in court before, so you can ease their nerves by telling them what to expect. Describing the courtroom, judge, and jury beforehand will lessen the shock they feel when the trial arrives.

If you do not trust your communication skills enough, consulting with a trial image consultant in Palm Beach will help you to effectively prepare witnesses.

Attention to Detail

Your lead attorney is counting on you to find the small yet important details of the case and trial.

Consulting with a trial image consultant in Palm Beach, learn as much as you can about the jury before trial. Palm beach trial image consultant Focus Litigation Consulting can assist the trial team in the effective and strategic exercise of peremptory challenges and in making informed challenges for cause.

After being provided with a jury profile, your attention to detail can identify the critical attributes of each member of the group that should guide the delivery of the lead attorney’s messages during trial.

During the trial, your job is to make note of the jurors’ various backgrounds, answers, and reactions to the questions presented to them. Voir dire happens quickly, so it is best to take brief notes on a pad of paper.

Your notes will be crucial in deciding which jurors to excuse, and conferring with the lead attorney will enhance your team dynamic.

Exhibits

Exhibits are a large part of the second chair’s responsibilities before, during, and after the trial. Before trial, your job is to ensure that all exhibits are complete and accurate, then determine how documents will be presented at trial.

Complete sets of exhibits should be readily available to all parties involved in the trial, including the judge and witnesses. If there are many exhibits, ensure that they are organized at the counsel table for easy access during trial.

One of your main tasks will be to keep track of when exhibits are introduced, marked, and entered. Ensure that all key exhibits are moved into evidence.

Preparing exhibits yourself instead of leaving it to a paralegal or secretary will allow you to better understand the trial and become an expert on all things related to the case. While it may seem like a lot of work, the time spent preparing exhibits will be worthwhile.

Spending a great deal of time with the exhibits will prepare you for any hiccups that may occur during the trial. If you sense something could be contested, let the lead attorney know beforehand.

Closing Statement Preparation

During the trial, the second chair should keep track of how the evidence stacks up to the opening statements for use in the closing argument. Paying attention to the opposing counsel’s statements, take note if he or she failed to fulfill any promises that were made during the opening statement.

Your lead attorney will be looking out for these details as well but the more information your team has, the better.

Taking clear and concise notes will make the summation process easier for your lead attorney, and you may have noticed something that they missed.

Final Thoughts

Serving as a second chair trial attorney can be overwhelming at times, but it is a great opportunity for new attorneys to learn from.

Take your duties seriously and don’t be afraid to go above and beyond for your lead attorney. Your team will take notice of your determination, establishing a strong working relationship with them.

As a new attorney, you are not expected to know everything and are welcome to ask questions. Feel comfortable knowing that your lead attorney has been in your shoes at one point as well.

Mistakes may happen but you should not feel discouraged, your skills will improve with time and practice. Treat your position seriously and get the most out of the experience.

Second chair trial counsel is an essential part of the council team, and you will look back on your experience with gratitude someday.

When Is The Correct Time To Use A Online Mock Trial Or Focus Groups For Your Case?

There are many steps that need to be taken in order to maintain the integrity of the law as well as being able to provide a fair trial for those who are to stand trial in the court of law. There are many litigation consultants and jury research experts who are available to provide services that will be able to greatly improve the integrity of your case and the representation of your rights in the court of law. These experts and professionals are there to consult with attorneys so that they are able to choose the most suitable candidates to determine your final plea.

Jury selection consultants conduct a series of online mock trials and trial focus groups so as to determine which candidates have a predisposed bias or certain reactions to points in the case which will produce a negative response which will jeopardize the defendant’s case. Online mock trials and focus groups are used in specific trials and you, the paying litigator, should know when is the most appropriate to employ the service of a jury consultant; the following are some details about this question which you, the paying consultant, should know about these services.

To begin, let us clear the air, as they say, about when you should hire a jury selection consultant, which provides the necessary services for a fair trial; a jury consultant is brought in when a case is considered high-risk or when a lot of money and the reputation of the lawyer and the law firm is at stake. These experts come in and evaluate the potential jury candidates on a very meticulous level in order to notice any personal characteristics that could produce a negative final decision. Research is done on the potential jury candidate’s social media accounts to notice predisposed biases that ingrained within them; these experts are usually employed when there is a celebrity on trial or some who arouses strong feelings within people and the jury.

Jury consultants are either educated in sociology, psychology or in the law itself; here, they are able to cover a wide range of areas that can be overlooked by lawyers which can jeopardize their chances of getting a positive jury selection. It is always hard to choose completely unbiased jury candidates in a case which provokes a lot of emotion and at times outrage, but this the best way to choose candidates that will be able to suppress or not let those emotions affect his or her choice in the final decision.

Throughout South Florida, especially Ft. Lauderdale, there are many legal institutions that seek the counseling of jury consultants for their services. This not only shows the determination of these legal institutions to do what is right, but it also shows that even a small county like Ft. Lauderdale is able to seek these services to do what is right.

In order to do this, some methods are done to notice these unwanted characteristics. An online mock trial is the same as a regular mock trial only that, of course, it is done through a computer and over the internet. Both these methods are implemented to see how the trial focus group will react to the evidence which is presented before them; using this method, the jury consultant can make recommendations on which of the jury candidates is best to sit a jury member. They know what is smirk of disapproval or facial expression of disapproval. Though the trial focus group has an idea of what is going, as in they know the lawyers are trying to pick the jury candidates that will produce the desired decision, they do not know who is watching their every move to notice initial biases.

This does not guarantee anything, but it does help the chances of producing a fair trial for the defendant. Jury consultants do a lot more research into your social media to also see what sort of biases that person has. You see, people show you who they really are when no one is looking, well, this is quite ironic since everyone can see over the internet, but people leave their guard down when they over the internet and sociologist are able to conduct studies and do research on what they find about you. If a jury selection finds something that can jeopardize the case at hand you will not be selected, but if it is something you can use, you are worthy to sit amongst the others in the jury section of the courtroom.

Another method that jury consultants use to weed out bias and negative dispositions from the potential jury candidates is conducting studies on a focus group as part of the pre-trial screening. This method is conducted in the same fashion as would a mock trial, but with an emphasis on the details, more or less. The trial focus group in Ft. Lauderdale is presented with certain points of evidence that can be a little concerning to the attorneys; jury consultants will study the reactions and behaviors that the potential jury candidates manifest while they see the evidence or certain aspects of the case which is confounding.

As stated above, these are the best methods in which a fair trial can be conducted involving an egregious case or a public figure; the sanctity of a fair trial, which is what America is all about. Legal professionals know that everyone has a certain bias or opinion about a certain topic; public opinion is something that greatly affects the final decision which the jury has to vote on. There has been inequity and injustice in past jury decisions, which is why trial focus groups and online mock trials are so important to the foundation of justice because a trial needs to fair and illustrate the sociological characteristics that we so try to accentuate.

The idea of law as conceived by the founding father is a way which people are able to defend themselves in the court of law. This is not only crucial in the court of law, but in civilization itself; people need to be able to stand trial and be judged by jury without any prejudice influencing the outcome of the final decision. A person’s rights have to be rightfully represented in the court of law, it is a universal right that must be respected in the United States, a country that not only strives to respect its citizen’s rights and freedoms but one that has put it in writing and implemented into its national constitution.

An Experienced Broward Witness Preparation Consultant Explains THREE unbreakable Rules To Select The Right Expert Witness

An expert witness plays a very important role in most litigated cases. Picking the right expert witness is vital to the success or failure of any case. Expert witnesses can and often do make or break a litigated case.

So, you have decided on the type of expert you need for the witness stand, along with the professional qualifications. But do you know what is it that makes the right expert witness? In choosing the right expert witness there are many costly mistakes trial attorneys should strive to avoid. When selecting an expert witness for your case, be sure to carefully consider other important traits he or she should possess.

An experienced Broward witness preparation consultant explains a few unbreakable rules to ensure the right expert witness is selected.

1.EARLY SELECTION AND RETENTION

Starting the search for an expert witness can greatly help. There is a number of valid reasons why it makes sense to start your search for the right expert witness early in your case. Counsel who select and retain their witness much after deciding on their litigation strategy, trial strategy and their course of action can miss a big opportunity. Looking out for and retaining experts for the witness stand early enables assist counsel with the formulation of deposition questions and document requests.

Finding a perfect fit for your case is a time-consuming process and it’s very important to give your prospective experts enough time in order to conduct a sufficient analysis to know whether or not they will be helpful for your case. In simple terms, early selection and retention of expert witness allow counsel to look into the experience and knowledge of the experts.

2. INTERVIEW THE CANDIDATES

A personal (face to face) interview with your prospective expert witness can help you access how she or she will appear on the witness stand. The best part is you can also throw specific questions, for example how research will be completed and how costs and fees will be addressed. Know how much the expert charges and when you will have to make the payment. Also, the expert’s appearance plays an important role in the overall success or failure of your case. Is the expert groomed and dressed appropriately? Is the expert nervous, shy or arrogant? How well prepared he or she is for the meeting? All these crucial points are quite critical to the final decision whether to retain an expert witness for the case.

3. INVESTIGATION IS IMPORTANT

Last but not least, it’s imperative for the council to investigate the prospective expert before finalizing one. Ask him or her to share the names of the trial attorneys involved in the latest cases in which she or he has been testified. Just to be extra sure, contact the legal professionals who used the experts in the past. To get the best one, search for the expert on the internet and also in the court records. Doing this is the best way you can eliminate the possibility of surprises later.

THE BOTTOM LINE

It’s crucial that you do everything possible within your control to pick the right expert witness for your litigated case. By keeping in mind the foregoing rules shared by an experienced Broward Witness Preparation Consultant, you can avoid costly mistakes and toxic effects of choosing the wrong expert witness.

The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton