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The secret weapons of opening statements - part II
In part one of this blog post 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 openi...
Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D.
— September 2020 — 748 views Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Mock trials Planning Presentations Research Trial consulting


The Litigation Psychology Podcast - Episode 36
The guest for this episode of The Litigation Psychology Podcast is Georgianne Walker, Partner at May Oberfell Lorber. Georgianne talks to us about the challenges of preparing foreign-born physician witnesses for testimony and the concerns and anxieties of some foreign-born physicians. She also dis...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— September 2020 — 1072 views Anti-reptile COVID-19 Depositions Health care / med mal Jury consulting Litigation psychology Reptile Trial consulting Witness training


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 — 853 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 — 915 views Enterprise risk management Exploratory research Focus groups Litigation psychology Research Scientific method


The Litigation Psychology Podcast - Episode 35
Dr. Bill Kanasky interviews St. Louis defense attorney Tad Eckenrode, Partner at Eckenrode-Maupin, about medical malpractice litigation, preparing doctors, physicians and healthcare professionals for testimony, and juror perceptions of healthcare workers in the COVID-19 era. ...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— August 2020 — 1015 views COVID-19 Depositions Health care / med mal Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Trial consulting Witness training


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 — 1018 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 , we outlined specific examples of how a scientific approach to litigation research has result...
George R. Speckart, Ph.D. & Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D.
— August 2020 — 976 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 — 1051 views Confirmatory research Exploratory research Focus groups Jury consulting Litigation psychology Mock trials Nuclear verdicts Research Scientific method Trial consulting Witness training


The reverse reptile - turning the tables on plaintiff's counsel
Dr. Bill Kanasky was interviewed for the A.M. Best Insurance Law Podcast on the topic of the reverse reptile and how defense attorneys can turn the tables on plaintiff's counsel. Dr. Kanasky describes the evolution of the Reptile Theory and its success in driving nuclear settlements and nuclear v...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— August 2020 — 1229 views Anti-reptile Depositions Litigation psychology Nuclear verdicts Reptile Trial consulting Witness training


The Litigation Psychology Podcast - Episode 31
This video episode of The Litigation Psychology Podcast features Dr. Bill Kanasky and Dr. George Speckart discussing the hot topic of nuclear verdicts and nuclear settlements. Dr. Kanasky and Dr. Speckart wrote an extensive article on the nuclear verdict phenomenon and talk about their insights a...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— August 2020 — 1183 views Anti-reptile Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Nuclear verdicts Reptile Research Scientific method Witness training


The Litigation Psychology Podcast - Episode 30
Mike Bassett, Senior Partner, The Bassett Firm in Dallas, TX joins The Litigation Psychology Podcast to discuss a number of topics in trucking litigation including the challenges with preparing truck drivers for testimony , how to manage the relationship with drivers and the on-going problem of n...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— July 2020 — 1187 views Anti-reptile COVID-19 Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Mock trials Nuclear verdicts Reptile Trial consulting Trucking & transportation Witness training


The Nuclear Verdict blog series
In part 1 of our nuclear verdicts series, we covered an overview of the definition of a nuclear verdict, some historical context, and the first of the five causative factors of nuclear verdicts. In part 2, we continue with the next two causative factors: egregious conduct and punitive (stealth) j...
George R. Speckart, Ph.D. & Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D.
— July 2020 — 1080 views Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Nuclear verdicts Reptile Research Scientific method Trial consulting Witness training


The Nuclear Verdict blog series
The “nuclear verdict” is a term recently coined to refer to unexpectedly high damage awards that appear to exceed rational parameters in civil cases . However, verdicts with monetary awards that far exceed expectations, and/or that are considered to be inflated, outlandish or even destructive, hav...
George R. Speckart, Ph.D. & Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D.
— July 2020 — 1240 views Anti-reptile Jury consulting Litigation psychology Nuclear verdicts Reptile Witness training


The Litigation Psychology Podcast - Episode 28
On this episode of The Litigation Psychology Podcast, Dr. Bill Kanasky is joined by attorneys Steve Fleischman and Rob Wright of Horvitz & Levy to discuss a topic that doesn't get much attention: Reptile Theory and its impact during the appellate process. Steve and Rob are experts on this topic a...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— July 2020 — 1366 views Anti-reptile Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Reptile Trial consulting Witness training


The Litigation Psychology Podcast - Episode 27
A very special guest joins The Litigation Psychology Podcast - DeMaurice Smith, Executive Director of the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA). De Smith discusses how NFL players are coping with COVID-19, his extensive experience as a trial attorney including the art of storytellin...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— July 2020 — 1502 views COVID-19 Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Mock trials Trial consulting Witness training


The Litigation Psychology Podcast - Episode 26
In this video episode of The Litigation Psychology Podcast, Dr. Bill Kanasky gives an overview of what occurs when a witness "loses their mind" during testimony and what can be done to prevent these meltdowns. Witnesses are particularly vulnerable to plaintiff reptile attacks which prey on witness...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— July 2020 — 1429 views Anti-reptile Litigation psychology Reptile Trial consulting Witness training


The Litigation Psychology Podcast - Episode 25
This video episode of The Litigation Psychology Podcast features an interview with Doug Marcello, Trial Attorney, Marcello & Kivisto. Doug and Dr. Bill Kanasky discuss numerous topics around trucking and transportation litigation including the challenges of preparing witnesses for testimony , par...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— June 2020 — 1546 views Anti-reptile COVID-19 Depositions Litigation psychology Reptile Trial consulting Trucking & transportation Witness training


The Litigation Psychology Podcast - Episode 23
This video edition of The Litigation Psychology Podcast features CSI Litigation Consultant Dr. Alyssa Parker discussing her experiences with preparing witnesses for deposition in trucking litigation. Dr. Parker also talks about the process of preparing healthcare workers for deposition, as both of...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— June 2020 — 1509 views Anti-reptile Depositions Litigation psychology Reptile Trial consulting Trucking & transportation Witness training


Survey: Juror attitudes & decisions in the wake of COVID-19
We are living in unprecedented times. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world in ways that few have ever seen, nor could they have imagined. The novel coronavirus has impacted almost every facet of our lives. It has led to changes in the way we perform our job functions, the way we shop, and ...
CSI - Courtroom Sciences Inc
— June 2020 — 2051 views COVID-19 Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Research Trial consulting


Impact of the COVID-19 crisis on jurors' attitudes & decisions
In part 1 of this topic , we discussed the concept of polarization and mortality salience, in part 2 we examined ingroup favoritism and outgroup bias, and in part 3 , we focused how crisis situations create an increased reliance on intuition, emotion, and heuristics in attitudes and decision-ma...
Lorie Sicafuse, Ph.D. - Litigation Psychology
— June 2020 — 1715 views Anti-reptile COVID-19 Jurors Jury consulting Litigation psychology Reptile Research Trial consulting