By Jill D. Schmid, Ph.D. In an article called “The Case of the Vanishing Trial Lawyer,” published in the Boston Globe,a veteran litigator, Edward McCarthy,
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. It probably comes as no surprise that corporate defendants face a disadvantage at trial compared to individual defendants. A long
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Confirmation bias refers to when people accept or reject evidence based upon what they want to believe as opposed to
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. One of the studies that I like to cite more than just about any is the old 3M study that
By Jill D. Schmid, Ph.D. On a recent episode of “All In,” Chris Hayes was discussing one possible approach the Trump team could take in
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. I have previously written about how important repetition is to persuasion. I discussed how repetition increases retention, familiarity, and believability.
By Jill D. Schmid, Ph.D. Sound Jury Consulting recently conducted a nationwide online survey in which we asked the following: If you were sitting as
By Jill D. Schmid, Ph.D. I’m sure you’ve written dozens perhaps hundreds. For each, you’ve painstakingly chosen every word, and gone over it with a
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. One of the most popular strategies used and advocated by many plaintiff’s attorneys across the country is the “broken rule”
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. I am a fan of the television show, The Profit . It’s entertaining and a wonderful resource for small businesses.
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. I’m proud to announce that Jury Selection Handbook: The Nuts and Bolts of Effective Jury Selection, a book that I
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Before you read any further, watch the above 1 minute and 41 second video, which will provide incredible insights into
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. The value of repetition as a simple and practical strategy for persuasion at trial cannot be overstated. However, despite the
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. In his 2011 book Thinking Fast and Slow, famed psychologist and Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman wrote this in his
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. I had a very interesting experience recently on a case in New York. While we had worked with the client
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Without a doubt, we are living in unprecedented times. Whether it is the leader of the free world firing off
By Jill D. Schmid, Ph.D. Obama arrived this morning (11/8/17) at the Daly Center in Chicago for jury duty in Cook County, but he didn’t
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. It has been a busy few months of picking juries for our consultants at Sound Jury Consulting. I have picked
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Mock trials are a popular tool for attorneys who want to learn how jurors will react to their cases. Mock
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Recently, I picked a jury in the Pacific Northwest where the judge provided the attorneys for each side limited time
