BTC Blast Issues
- Building a Juror-Centric Story – December 2020
- Trying Your Case in Alternate Venues – November 2020
- Where Do We Go From Here? Jurors Attitudes and the Pandemic – June 2020
- Boyd Trial Consulting is Going Virtual! – March/April 2020
- Applying The Wisdom of Building A StoryBrand to Jury-centric Advocacy – April 2020
- Why do Jurors Distort the Facts to Fit Their Pre-Existing Beliefs? – Winter 2019-2020
- The “Burden” of the Burden of Proof – Summer 2019
- “What? vs. “Why?” – Spring 2019
- The “Big 4” Questions – Winter 2019
- Will I Be Better Off If The Plaintiff Win Or The Defendant Wins? – Fall 2018
BTC E-Mail Newsletter Archive
- Issue 1 – How to Deal With an Evasive Witness
- Issue 2 – Juror Questions in the Age of the Activist Juror
- Issue 3 – Jurors as Expert Witnesses
- Issue 4 – Using Focus Groups to Discover and Meet the Needs of the Jury
- Issue 5 – “Accidents” Don’t Happen
- Issue 6 – D-I-S-C: Who’s Your Jury Going To Be?
- Issue 7 – What’s Your Chorus?
Issue 1 – How to Deal With an Evasive Witness
Every trial lawyer faces the challenge of a witness who won’t answer the questions they are asked. I recently heard a highly-credentialed political researcher from Harvard talk about an interesting study that I believe has a lesson for trial lawyers. The subject of the study was politicians who “dodge” questions; those who when asked questions in interviews or debates give answers that are not responsive to the questions.
Issue 2 – Juror Questions in the Age of the Activist Juror
At the dawn of the jury system, jurors not only decided questions of fact, but personally investigated the facts and then decided what the law should be. As time went by, juries were stripped of their right and power to investigate the facts, and eventually were told that they had to apply the law as given to them by the court. They became passive observers of the courtroom drama, instead of active participants in the process.
Issue 3 – Jurors as Expert Witnesses
When was the last time you had a trial where an expert witness went back to the jury room to deliberate with the jurors? The answer may surprise you.
Issue 4 – Using Focus Groups to Discover and Meet the Needs of the Jury
Lawyers who represent people who have been harmed by the acts of others have to look into their hearts and decide:
- Do I believe in the jury system?
- Do I trust jurors?
Issue 5 – “Accidents” Don’t Happen
There is a word you need to purge from your vocabulary. You should delete it from your firm’s written materials, from your pleadings, and from your blogs; it should be banished from your very thought process. That word is “accident.”
Issue 6 – D-I-S-C: Who’s Your Jury Going To Be?
When planning case themes and deciding what evidence you are going to introduce in your trial, you should be asking yourself “What kind of people will likely be on the jury at the end of jury selection?”
Issue 7 – What’s Your Chorus?
What do Uptown Funk and The Battle Hymn of the Republic have in common? Unforgettable choruses. While “Girls hit your hallelujah (ooh)” may not be the moral equivalent of “Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!,” both songs are unforgettable because they have short statements, repeated frequently, that capture the soul of the song.