Impasse Breaking: Overwhelming Emotion
Mike Liffrig
Recent Posts
How to win (or defend) a billion dollar verdict
Nov 8, 2019 3:55:32 PM / by Mike Liffrig posted in Jurors, Voir Dire, Advocacy, Jury Research, Emotion, Law, jury trial, voir dire rehearsal, jury selection, North Dakota
First Court has helped our clients to win some of the biggest cases in recent judicial history.
Four years ago, our research assisted the defendants in the Aurora Theatre shooting civil case in winning a defense verdict.
Recently, we helped the plaintiff victims of a drunk driver win a record verdict of more than $1 billion to compensate for the death of two young women and catastrophic injuries to a third.
We have compiled and shared the key lessons from these landmark decisions for advocates on either side of a case with big verdict potential:
How to win juries in the age of big verdicts
Sep 5, 2019 2:30:54 PM / by Mike Liffrig posted in Advocacy, Emotion, jury trial, voir dire rehearsal, jury selection, online jury research
I have the pleasure of talking every day with litigators around the country, and working together to overcome their greatest case handling challenges. Recently, these conversations have revealed a slow, but monumental change in jury behavior in the last couple of years. Some questions I hear frequently that bring this sea change to light:
How to define “Bad Faith” for Jurors
Jun 3, 2019 3:30:08 PM / by Mike Liffrig posted in Advocacy, Jury Research, Testimony, Emotion, Law, Experts, bad faith
First Court recently completed jury research projects on a handful of bad faith cases, and developed some insight on how jurors understand and interpret the concept of bad faith. Since this can be a tricky topic for regular people to understand, we’ve shared a few insights on what we learned, and how to effectively communicate the important points to the laypeople in the jury box.
A Week in the Life of a Traditional Mediation Victim
May 20, 2019 3:36:27 PM / by Mike Liffrig posted in 1 Hour Mediation, ADR, Settlement, Online Dispute Resolution, Mediation
As innovation has transformed the world and the legal industry, little has changed in the way most mediations are conducted. As professionals, we always need to consider how improvements in technology and processes can help us win better outcomes for our stakeholders. If you can relate to the following account, you owe it to your clients and to yourself to consider your alternatives to traditional mediation.
How Jurors Work: Emotions Lead the Law
Oct 17, 2018 10:49:27 AM / by Mike Liffrig posted in Jurors, Jury Research, Emotion, Law
Consider this fact pattern and outcome from a case we recently worked on: Plaintiff rear-ends trailer pulling a large load of logs. I repeat: Plaintiff rear-ends defendant. But the jurors assign most of the blame to the defendant… who was rear-ended.
Juror's Feedback:What Jurors Really Think of Lawyers
Jun 4, 2018 3:53:31 PM / by Mike Liffrig posted in Jurors
Although jurors come from all walks of life, they hold some common beliefs about what they like and dislike from attorneys in the courtroom.
Eight Tips for Better Voir Dire
May 30, 2018 3:14:16 PM / by Mike Liffrig posted in Jurors, Voir Dire, Advocacy
Jurors are the single most important part of a trial. They decide who wins and who loses. While it is easy to focus on the arguments and the presentation of evidence - all of which are important - it is vital to remember who is actually deciding the case. Arguments do not decide cases. Evidence does not decide cases. Jurors decide cases.