It Takes A Village: Yet Another Focus Group Advantage

I consulted on a case recently where one of the possible witnesses was an individual in a highly respected line of work. This person had some 30-odd years ago been involved in criminal activity, but in the years since had made a wonderful turn-around, and was a veritable pillar of the community, loved and respected.

The attorneys who had interacted with the witness said she was credible, quite charming, and would no doubt make an excellent witness.

With such a brilliant present, would the past matter? The attorneys and I weren’t sure, and figured the best way to find out would be to present the witness to a focus group. Not live, that’s rarely possible, but in a video clip.

Imagine our surprise when what struck the focus group members wasn’t the long-ago criminal activity, but the witness’s “smarmy-ness.” They didn’t find the witness charming, they thought she was smirking. The focus group members stated the witness wasn’t taking the present matter seriously, that her attitude was entirely too cavalier. They did not find her credible at all.

With that, since the witness’s appearance at trial was not obligatory, it was quickly decided NOT to have the witness take the stand. We would never have realized the impact of this particular individual had it not been for the valuable input of the focus group members.

Once again, a focus group saved the day.

Use "Less is More" to Win in Court

Some courts are lenient with the amount of time allotted for a trial, some are not. It certainly can seem impossible, sometimes, to jam the amount of evidence and testimony you have in the number of hours permitted.

And yet, as is so often true of many things in life "Less is more."

This was strongly brought back to mind upon reading one alternate juror’s response to the verdict in the recent case against Trenton, Ohio Mayor Tony Mack,  as reported in The Trentonian. The alternate juror, Sherie Jackson, was distressed as she explained to the Judge in a letter post-trial, by what she considered a "rushed verdict" that was arrived at precipitously because: "In the jury room, I heard of plans to go on a cruise, to a relative's wedding and an overall atmosphere of impatience as the trial stretched on" — for a month and one day.

Jurors who may have had the patience to sit through long trials and long deliberations some 10 or so years ago, are no longer willing to be held hostage past what they consider a sufficient rendering of the facts and testimony. Our world has sped up tremendously: we abbreviate everything, we rely on bullets and headlines, we expect everything to happen quickly.

This is one of the great advantages of focus groups: attorneys are forced to reduce their entire case to a mere hour and a half, which puts a glaring spotlight on what is essential and what could be left aside.

Yes, you still must get across your points, you must still develop testimony and present evidence appropriately. However, in my experience, a great deal can often be trimmed from the presentation of your case without losing impact. If anything, you generally gain impact from being succinct.

Focus Groups Save the Day–on Broadway!

In the spring of 2012,  Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, was widely believed to be headed for total flopdom: media were comparing it to the Titanic. Yet, this fall, the show has already grossed more than $160 million, a Broadway blockbuster, largely due to co-lead producers Jere Harris and Michael Cohl’s willingness to take drastic measures to turn their incipient flop into a fabulous success.

Among those measures were—you guessed it—focus groups. The producers realized that audience members were leaving the preview performances confused, so they conducted focus groups investigating specific aspects of the show. Production was stopped—a radical move--in order to make changes based on the focus group feedback.

It worked.

Your cases deserve no less. A focus group is a relatively low-cost pre-trial strategy to give you the winning edge. There is nothing that can replace vigorous discussion of your case’s strengths and weaknesses among a group of people rigorously selected to match your jury pool.

Unlike Broadway, you can also receive (if the focus group is conducted with this purpose in mind) juror profiles as to “best” and “worst” likely jurors, assessed from the responses of the focus group members.

Yes, it takes effort and the courage to withstand open criticism from a group of strangers, yet given that these strangers are willing to give you the feedback that can put your case in an advantageous posture, it’s well worth it, even when you don’t think your case resembles the Titanic. 

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A WINNING CASE Dr. Noelle Nelson recently consulted on:

*Congratulations to Dave Luce and Meghan Lamping of Carmody MacDonald P.C. (St. Louis), and Spencer M. Taylor and M. Todd Lowther of Balch & Bingham L.L.P. (Birmingham) for their $11,106,420 Jury Verdict in TAMKO v. Factory Mutual (FM), a hotly contested business interruption insurance case. FM claimed that TAMKO's damages, which TAMKO sought in the amount of $12.2 million, were less than $2.5 million. FM argued that TAMKO did not suffer a loss of production due to an absence of raw material but instead was impacted by the late 2008 economic downturn, and that TAMKO could not demonstrate that it had actually lost any sales. Clearly, the jury did not agree with FM.