Online Jury Research Exercise
Like a traditional in-person mock trial or focus group, online jury research exercises provide a platform for evaluating the strengths and weaknesses in your case. It provides in-depth testing of themes and analysis of the surrogate jurors' attitudes and inclinations. This methodology also provides a means to determine the best way to convey the right message at trial as well as the development of a juror profile and suggested voir dire questions. Unlike a traditional in-person exercise, the online exercise allows attorneys or other presenters to prepare video presentations to the surrogate jurors, which respondents view at home on a device. Throughout the exercise, the respondents answer questions, which are evaluated and, based on these responses, respondents are selected to participate in an online deliberation. The online deliberation is moderated by Zehner Trial Consulting and clients observe the deliberations remotely.
Pros
- Allows attorneys or presenters to prepare succinct arguments, which are highly edited and refined
- Since travel expenses and respondent costs are greatly reduced, it is a more budget-friendly option
- The format allows you to select respondents based on their responses to determine who will deliberate, thereby eliminating surrogate jurors who may not allow for optimal deliberations
- Like in-person exercises, online exercises allow attorneys the opportunity to "practice" their arguments and style before the actual trial
Cons
- Attention spans are lower in online exercises, which means presentations may need to be shortened and can create time constraints
- Because deliberations are online, it is difficult to closely emulate an in-person jury trial
- Representative surrogate jurors must have some technical proficiency, which may result in a less representative sample of the potential jury pool
Hybrid Online/In-Person Jury Research Exercise
A hybrid jury research exercise combines online presentations with in-person jury deliberations. The online exercise is conducted and, based upon questionnaire responses, certain respondents are selected to participate in deliberations. However, instead of jurors deliberating online, the surrogate jurors participate in an in-person deliberation moderated by Zehner Trial Consulting staff. The deliberations can be viewed either in person or via a streaming service.
The pros and cons of a hybrid exercise are all the same as the online pros and cons with the exception that the deliberation, since it is conducted in person, more closely mimics a real trial deliberation.