Kristi Harrington is a trial consultant with First Court, Inc. As a retired circuit court judge, Kristi presided over hundreds of jury trials. Kristi is a Distinguished Visiting Professor and former Director of Advocacy at Charleston School of Law.
Several months ago, I found this cartoon and saved the image. I’ve come back to the folder where I stored it several times, and I am always struck by this simple visualization of how something that seems so clear to one person becomes “ wrong” to the other person. Both people are convinced that ...
Mock trials are a valuable tool for attorneys to evaluate how a jury may react to their case. With the growth of technology and in response to the global pandemic, online mock trials have become increasingly popular and may be a better fit for your jury research needs than the traditional in-person ...
The closing statement is a critical moment in any trial. It is the attorney's final opportunity to persuade the jury, leaving a lasting impression and influencing their decision. A well-crafted closing statement can tie together the evidence, highlight key arguments, and deliver a compelling ...
For some, the pronunciation of “voir dire” alone produces great debate. With an etymology rooted in Old French and Latin, “voir dire” is translated as “to speak the truth.” What typically comes to mind when this phrase is thrown about in the legal world is not “truth-speaking,” but rather the ...
In our last blog, the discussion focused on “Slaying the Reptile” or dismantling a plaintiff attorney’s reptile theory arguments. Doing so paves the way for the defense attorney to give the GOOD news about the plaintiff. Once the jurors are not under the tight grip of fear implanted by the reptile ...
