Trial consultants
Trial consultants are professionals with specialized expertise that assists attorneys in preparing and executing trial strategies, particularly in courtroom settings. Their role has become increasingly significant since the 1980s, filling gaps left by traditional law education which often lacks training in areas like psychology, sociology, and presentation techniques. One of their primary functions includes aiding in jury selection by analyzing potential jurors’ characteristics and attitudes to help attorneys make informed decisions about who to include or exclude from juries.
Another critical area is the preparation of expert witnesses, especially forensic scientists, who may not be adept at public speaking. Trial consultants help these experts present their testimony confidently and effectively, often utilizing simulated courtroom settings for practice. Additionally, they produce high-quality visual materials to aid in the clear presentation of case facts, ensuring jurors fully comprehend the arguments being made.
Trial consultants also conduct pretrial research, including focus groups and mock trials, to gauge public perceptions of the case and identify potential weaknesses in legal arguments. However, the field is not without controversy; questions arise regarding fairness, accessibility for clients with limited resources, and the lack of regulation and licensing in trial consulting. Concerns about potential violations of the right to an impartial jury trial further complicate the discourse surrounding this profession.
Trial consultants
DEFINITION: Persons with expertise that can be applied to courtroom settings who aid attorneys in preparing and executing trial strategies.
SIGNIFICANCE: Among the various services provided by trial consultants, the one perhaps most relevant to forensic science is that of preparing expert witnesses to give courtroom testimony. Forensic scientists are often called to testify in court regarding the findings from their examination of evidence, and they may work with trial consultants beforehand so that they can present their testimony in the most effective manner.
Most law schools focus on teaching legal theory, legal writing, argumentation, bar exam preparation, and other practical matters of being a lawyer. Law schools do not generally include much instruction in disciplines such as psychology, sociology, statistics, anthropology, judgment and decision-making sciences, presentation technology, marketing, or market research. Many of these disciplines however, have proven helpful to attorneys as they seek to develop and carry out strategic arguments at trial. Since the 1980s, the gap between expertise in the law and expertise in these other areas has been filled by a growing number of specialists known as trial consultants.
Jury Selection
One area in which trial consultants have specialized is selection. Using psychological principles, consultants aid attorneys by identifying the characteristics of potential jurors that they believe will cause the jurors to be more or less likely to be sympathetic to the attorneys’ clients or arguments. By examining the attitudes and experiences of the people in the pools from which jurors are selected, jury consultants draw conclusions about how each would be likely to decide given cases. With this information, attorneys can attempt to have excused from juries any persons they believe will be inclined to be unsympathetic toward their clients.
Preparation of Expert Witnesses
Attorneys frequently call on forensic scientists and other experts in scientific and technical fields such as physics, chemistry, biology, and psychology to testify in court. These experts are not always skilled at public speaking, and they can seem uneasy on the stand. Trial consultants often help to prepare experts so that they appear relaxed and confident as they present their testimony, which can aid their credibility with jurors. Sometimes this involves rehearsing with experts in simulated courtroom settings. Trial consultants also explain to expert witnesses the best ways for them to get particular messages across and how to avoid becoming flustered or confused under cross-examination.
Presentation Materials
Some trial consultants specialize in producing visual aids that attorneys use in presenting the facts of cases to juries. Photographs, time lines, charts, graphs, documents, and animations are among the types of visual materials that trial attorneys may need to convey facts clearly to juries. If such materials are confusing or even just difficult to see, jurors may fail to grasp the points the attorneys are trying to make. Many trial consulting firms can produce much higher-quality visual aids than trial attorneys could make on their own because these firms employ graphic artists and creative designers.
Pretrial Research
One way in which trial consultants gather information to help plan the strategies to be used in jury trials is by conducting research. Such research can take a wide variety of forms, from simple surveys to complete mock trials. The aim in each case is to discover how members of the public, ideally persons similar to the potential jurors, will view the case, the attorney, and the arguments that will be presented.
One of the methods that trial consultants often use in conducting research is the focus group. The consultant for a case recruits members of the public and pays them to listen to the case, both the arguments presented by the side that hired the consultant and the arguments that may be made by the opposing side. After the focus group members have heard all the arguments, they may be asked to discuss the case with a moderator, to respond to questionnaires about the case, or even to conduct a mock deliberation. The consultant records and then analyzes all the feedback from the group.
Often, consultants find out through focus groups and other kinds of pretrial research that members of the public do not see cases in the same ways the attorneys do. Such research may reveal particular weaknesses in attorneys’ arguments or even problems with the ways in which people react to the attorneys themselves. Pretrial research can also uncover weaknesses in the ways in which attorneys and witnesses present information, especially if the information is complicated.
Controversy
Trial consulting is a relatively new field, and it has been the source of controversy. For example, some members of the legal community have raised questions about whether attorneys who employ consultants have an unfair advantage, given that many clients cannot afford to pay for their attorneys to hire consultants. Also, some observers have expressed concern about the fact that, unlike the legal profession, the field of trial consulting is largely unregulated, and consultants need no special licensing or certification. Of the many services offered by trial consultants, those involving jury selection are perhaps the most controversial; it has been argued that consultants’ input into the jury selection process may be seen as a violation of the right to an impartial jury trial, as provided for in the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Bibliography
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"Importance of a Jury Consultant in Jury Selection." U.S. Legal Support, 15 Nov. 2023, www.uslegalsupport.com/blog/jury-consultant/. Accessed 18 Aug. 2024.
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Lat, David. "Why Jury Consultants Are Now Essential In High Stakes Trials." Bloomberg Law, 24 July 2024, news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/why-jury-consultants-are-now-essential-in-high-stakes-trials. Accessed 18 Aug. 2024.
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