The CSI Blog

Critical Communications    |    Records & Depositions    |    Litigation Psychology


Defense strategy during the pandemic
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates 37% of Americans experienced symptoms of anxiety or depression during mid-December 2020 ( U.S. Census Bureau, Household Pulse Survey, 2020 [1] ). Defense attorneys returning to the courthouse for trials in coming months will face a jury venire composed of many peop...
Melissa Loberg, Ph.D. & Lorie Sicafuse, Ph.D.
— January 2021 — 136 views COVID-19 Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Research Trial consulting


Litigation trends in 2021 - part 1
If 2020 taught us anything, it is that making predictions about the future is foolhardy. Though the unexpected is likely to be woven into every aspect of our lives and businesses, there often are trends and developments that are worth being aware of and prepared for. Considering that approach, th...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— January 2021 — 191 views COVID-19 Depositions Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Mock trials Research Trial consulting Witness training


The Litigation Psychology Podcast #51 - Attorney demeanor
In this week’s podcast, trial attorneys Paul Motz, Shareholder, Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney and Matt Moffett, Partner, Gray, Rust, St. Amand, Moffett & Brieske, LLP, join CSI Litigation Consultants Dr. Steve Wood and Dr. Bill Kanasky to discuss the topic of attorney credibility and attorney...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— January 2021 — 177 views Anti-reptile Confirmatory research Depositions Exploratory research Focus groups Insurance Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Mock trials Nuclear verdicts Reptile Research Trial consulting Witness training


Jury selection in intellectual property cases - part 2
In part 1 of this topic [1] , we laid the groundwork that two different sets of profile characteristics were needed to reliably identify plaintiff and defendant juror types:   Those who would tend to find (non)infringement and those who would tend to find (in)validity. Part 1 [2] included an analy...
George R. Speckart, Ph.D. - Litigation Psychology
— December 2020 — 208 views Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Research Trial consulting Witness training


Jury selection in intellectual property cases - part 1
Introduction In the early days of patent litigation – when real inventors were suing corporations ( Kearns v. Ford Motor Company ) or corporations were suing each other ( Procter & Gamble v. Kimberly Clark , a.k.a “diaper wars” or Dow v. Exxon Chemical ) -- the scientific approach that was taken i...
George R. Speckart, Ph.D. - Litigation Psychology
— December 2020 — 237 views Focus groups Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Research Scientific method


Survey: Covid-related attitude changes toward industries
* Introduction * All of us have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. Most of us have experienced significant changes in how we socialize, work, and educate our children. Not only are our behaviors affected by the crisis, our way of viewing the world is also affected during this ti...
Lorie Sicafuse, Ph.D. - Litigation Psychology
— December 2020 — 263 views Anti-reptile COVID-19 Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Reptile Research Trucking


The Litigation Psychology Podcast #47 - Toxic tort cases
Rick Braun, Partner in the Detroit office of Hawkins Parnell and Young, LLP talks with CSI Litigation Consultant Dr. Steve Wood about toxic tort cases, how the media portrays these types of cases and how these portrayals impact defending toxic tort cases. They discuss the influence of pop culture,...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— November 2020 — 295 views Focus groups Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Mock trials Planning Reptile Trial consulting Witness training


The Litigation Psychology Podcast #45 - Nuclear verdicts
CSI Litigation Consultant Dr. Steve Wood joins the podcast to discuss the causes of nuclear verdicts [1] and the myth of social inflation. Dr. Wood and Dr. Kanasky explain the psychology behind the concept of social inflation and why it is being promoted so much. They also talk about how you can l...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— November 2020 — 337 views Focus groups Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Mock trials Nuclear verdicts Trial consulting Witness training


The Litigation Psychology Podcast #44 - Healthcare Litigation
Jason Long, Attorney with London | Amburn Attorneys at Law joins the podcast to discuss several healthcare litigation topics. Jason and Dr. Bill Kanasky talk about what the impacts of Covid-19 have been - both good and bad - on witness training [1] , depositions, and some lessons learned thus far....
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— November 2020 — 345 views Anti-reptile COVID-19 Depositions Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Med Mal Reptile Research Trial consulting Witness training


The Litigation Psychology Podcast #43 - Healthcare Litigation
In this episode of The Litigation Psychology Podcast, Dr. Bill Kanasky is joined by Atlanta area trial attorney John E. Hall, Jr., Partner, Hall Booth Smith to discuss healthcare litigation [1] . Bill and John talk about birth injury cases and the importance of understanding the basics of the medi...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— November 2020 — 404 views Confirmatory research Jury consulting Litigation psychology Med Mal Mock trials Nuclear verdicts Research Trial consulting Witness training


The Litigation Psychology Podcast #41 - Nuclear Verdicts
In this special edition of The Litigation Psychology Podcast, Trucking Litigation Attorney Doug Marcello interviews Dr. Bill Kanasky on the subject of nuclear verdicts. They discuss the definition of a nuclear verdict [1] and what causes a nuclear verdict to occur, including the impact of Reptile ...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— October 2020 — 524 views Anti-reptile COVID-19 Jurors Jury consulting Nuclear verdicts Reptile Research Scientific method Trial consulting Trucking Witness training


Best practices in case research - part II
In the first part of this topic [1] , we provided a primer on juror psychology and introduced the first three factors affecting juror case evaluations. In the final part of this topic, we continue the factors affecting juror case evaluations and discuss the importance of research in evaluating a c...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— October 2020 — 486 views Confirmatory research Exploratory research Focus groups Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Mock trials Presentations Research Trial consulting


Addressing the challenges of healthcare litigation
It's no secret that the healthcare industry has a high volume of litigation. So, what can healthcare companies and healthcare insurers do to better prepare to d efend themselves in their litigation? Our multi-part series on the healthcare industry covers a variety of tools and services that health...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— September 2020 — 617 views Anti-reptile Confirmatory research Depositions Exploratory research Focus groups Jury consulting Litigation psychology Med Mal Mock trials Reptile Research Scientific method Trial consulting Witness training


Best practices in case research - part I
Introduction When managing litigation, every  decision should be made with as deep  an understanding as possible of what  a  future jury would do. But few things are as  complex as trying to predict jury decisions. Valuing a  case requires a deep understanding of the  law,  access to appr...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— September 2020 — 494 views Confirmatory research Exploratory research Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Mock trials Planning Research Trial consulting


The secret weapons of opening statements - part II
In part one of this blog post [1] on the primacy and recency effects of opening statements, we discussed how this concept is often misunderstood by litigators and the philosophy that trial attorneys need to adopt for their opening statements. In the second part, we provide examples of different op...
Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D.
— September 2020 — 522 views Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Mock trials Planning Presentations Research Trial consulting


The secret weapons of opening statements - part I
The primacy and recency effects  are arguably the most misinterpreted psychological constructs in litigation. Most trial attorneys simply understand them as “jurors most remember the first and last things you say to them.” However, it is not that simple. By definition, true primacy and recency eff...
Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D.
— September 2020 — 603 views Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Mock trials Planning Presentations Research Trial consulting


Assessing your litigation risk
At the start of any litigation, there are more questions than answers. Everyone involved wants to know "what's our liability?", "what's this going to cost us?", "how will this impact our reputation?", "what are the potential damages?", "how long will this go on?", "who might need to testify?", and...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— September 2020 — 693 views Enterprise risk management Exploratory research Focus groups Litigation psychology Research Scientific method


The Litigation Psychology Podcast  - Episode 33
On this episode of The Litigation Psychology Podcast, Dr. Lorie Sicafuse and Dr. Steve Wood discuss the topic of attorney credibility. Dr. Wood has researched attorney credibility for a number of years and shares his insights on the importance of the credibility of both plaintiff and defense attor...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— August 2020 — 744 views Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Mock trials Research Trial consulting


The Nuclear Verdict blog series
In the first 3 parts of our nuclear verdicts series, we covered an overview of the definition of a nuclear verdict, some historical context, and the five causative factors of nuclear verdicts. In part 4 [1] , we outlined specific examples of how a scientific approach to litigation research has res...
George R. Speckart, Ph.D. & Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D.
— August 2020 — 751 views Anti-reptile Confirmatory research Exploratory research Focus groups Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Mock trials Nuclear verdicts Reptile Research Scientific method Trial consulting Witness training


The Nuclear Verdict blog series
In the first 3 parts of our nuclear verdicts series, we covered an overview of the definition of a nuclear verdict, some historical context, and the five causative factors of nuclear verdicts. In part 4, we outline – with specific examples - how a scientific approach to litigation research has res...
George R. Speckart, Ph.D. & Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D.
— August 2020 — 812 views Confirmatory research Exploratory research Focus groups Jury consulting Litigation psychology Mock trials Nuclear verdicts Research Scientific method Trial consulting Witness training