Give Jurors a Clear Process for Deliberations
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. A key milestone in any jury deliberation is the selection of the process for deliberations. At some point early in
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
October 9, 2019
Making Your Case Relevant to Millennial Jurors
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. It’s hard being in a place where you don’t speak the same language as those around you. Where everyone dresses
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
October 3, 2019
Six “Talk Triggers” for Jury Deliberations
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Why do jurors talk about some testimony in deliberations, but not other testimony? Why do jurors start deliberations by talking
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
September 18, 2019
Examining Defense Strategy for the Upcoming Landmark Opioid Trials in Ohio
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Next month, the largest jury trial to date against opioid manufacturers, distributers, and sellers will take place in northeastern Ohio.
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
September 5, 2019
The Critical Importance of Practicing Your Voir Dire
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Despite what Allen Iverson might say (search “Allen Iverson” and “practice” on YouTube if you do not get this reference),
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
August 15, 2019
Juror Complaints Mirror Judge Complaints
By Jill D. Schmid, Ph.D. I was recently reading an article that was published a few years ago in our local bar journal about the
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
August 8, 2019
10 Practical Strategies for Changing Jurors’ First Impressions
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. and Scott Herndon, M.A. In 2016, Oxford Dictionaries chose “post-truth” as its word of the year. It defined it as
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
August 1, 2019
10 Indicators of Who Will Be Opinion Leaders in Deliberations
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Jury selection is difficult. It is impossible to predict exactly how any one individual is going to decide the case.
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
July 24, 2019
6 Common Reasons Why Defense Attorneys Lose Cases
by Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Each year in the United States, juries award billions of dollars in damages to plaintiffs. In 2014, a jury in
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
July 18, 2019
Coping with Egocentric Jury Decision-Making
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. We quickly learned that Richard was a horrible juror for us in the trucking accident case we were working on.
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
July 11, 2019
Rare Insights from Jurors About Voir Dire
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. This past Friday, I conducted our first ever all-day mock jury selection workshop in Seattle. Ten attorneys spent the day
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
February 5, 2019
The Importance of the Me Principle for Jury Strategy (or Those Darn Millennials!)
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Sadly, research on cultural changes in America over the past few decades show that we have become more of a
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
January 24, 2019
Understanding How Social Media is Changing Your Jurors
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. One of the often-overlooked features of the social media revolution is how it has changed the consumer/product dynamic. In this
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
December 18, 2018
An Effective Strategy For Changing the Narrative in Difficult Cases
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Some of the best case strategies that we have developed with our clients over the years resulted in the other
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
December 13, 2018
Ease over Accuracy: Why “Yeah, but…” Defense Tend to Fail
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. The “law of least effort” is an important principle for understanding jury decision-making. In short, if there are several ways
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
December 4, 2018
Priming Jurors to Hate You and Your Client
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. The critical takeaway from any meaningful discussion about primacy theory and its role in persuading jurors is often the one
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
November 27, 2018
Preparing Witnesses to Pass the “Eyeball Test”
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. One of the most commonly-cited statistics in communication studies is that verbal communication (i.e. the words that are actually said)
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
November 14, 2018
Faster is Better: Finding the Right Speaking Pace
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. What is the most appropriate pace of speech? A common belief among trial attorneys is that it is important to
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
November 7, 2018
Persuading a New Generation of Millennial Jurors
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Over the past few months, I’ve celebrated my 40thbirthday, my 15thyear in the jury consulting industry, and the 5-year anniversary
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
September 27, 2018
The Jurors Hated It, But It Worked
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. An important lesson I have learned from observing jurors’ decision-making in mock trials is that jurors sometimes dislike strategies that
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
August 6, 2018
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