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Mock Trials and Focus Groups
At Kanter Ostler, our mock trial and focus group services give clients vital insights into how jurors may decide their case, and to what might be the best winning legal strategy in court.
We provide meticulously designed mock trial and focus group services that go beyond testing a potential jury pool. To explain, we also analyze the results of our testing in toto and provide sharp recommendations using our 40-year experience in law and jury consulting. We know trials firsthand, we’re methodical in jury testing, and we can turn our jury research into results you can use.
Let’s start with a free consultation. Call Kanter Ostler at (619) 304-2244 to see how we can support your case.
Mock Trials: Examining All Angles of Your Case
A mock trial is a powerful way to test the strengths and weaknesses of your case. At this exercise, you or your trial lawyers will present both sides of the case while our “surrogate jurors” observe and rate various aspects of the presentation. They then decide on a verdict and give us insight into what influenced that decision.
Kanter Ostler takes mock trials to a deeper level, giving you as accurate an understanding as possible of how your strategy may unfold at the actual trial.
- Our mock jurors closely match your jury pool. Our rigorous recruitment method combs through potential juror demographics, socioeconomics, attitudes, political leanings, and more to ensure your mock jury strongly represents the real jury.
- Our real-time jury feedback catches crucial nuances. As you present at our mock trial, our surrogate jurors provide their instant reactions through handheld remote devices. This ensures we never miss any subtleties that could make a difference in your case – from the emotional hook of your statements, to the effectiveness of your exhibits and witnesses, right down to your posture, movements, and word choices.
- Post-verdict discussions spotlight issues of interest. After the mock jury has given their verdict, we sit down with them to delve into their reactions. What themes were compelling to them? Why did they react as they did? We’ll also solicit their response on specific issues that you and your trial team are interested in.
- Kanter Ostler’s in-depth analysis enhances your strategy. Using data from your mock trial, we’ll give you a comprehensive report of your projected performance in front of the jury. We’ll also provide tactical recommendations to address weak spots and transform adequate presentations into highly persuasive demonstrations.
But more than that, we’ll provide valuable insight on the jury itself: profiles of potentially favorable and harmful jurors, characteristics affecting case perception, important voir dire questions to ask, and more. We can discuss this analysis with you and strategize together ahead of your jury selection.
Focus Groups: Delving Into Jurors’ Minds
Less structured than a mock trial, a focus group discussion is akin to a brainstorming session where you’ll get direct feedback from surrogate jurors. These mock jurors will hear the case summary and your planned presentation, then answer questions that reveal how the potential jury may perceive your approach.
Focus groups at Kantler Ostler are informal but carefully targeted. A casual environment allows our mock jurors to be flexible and authentic in their answers. At the same time, our focus group moderators steer the discussion with questions that we’ve pre-planned towards your goals. We bring out answers that help you:
- Identify weaknesses in your strategy and presentation
- Identify strong points in your case that you should maximize
- Determine what witnesses and exhibits would be most compelling
- Explore the reasons behind jurors’ reactions
- Gauge the potential jurors’ characteristics and attitudes that may be favorable or detrimental to your case (useful in jury selection).
All our focus group participants are vetted to closely represent your actual jury pool. We’re keen-eyed in screening out “professional” focus group respondents – those who participate so frequently in focus group discussions that their answers are skewed away from real-world results. At Kanter Ostler, we take great care in ensuring that our focus groups are reliable, realistic, and closely relevant to your case.
After the focus group, we’ll debrief you and your team to compile salient responses and explore how to integrate them into your case. Our experienced jury consultants can also provide any additional guidance you need during trial preparation.
Contact Kanter Ostler for Your Focus Group or Mock Trial
Led by veteran attorney Elliot Kanter and proficient jury trainer Leticia Ostler, the team of Kanter Ostler is highly competent in conducting focus groups and mock trials across various legal fields and settings:
- In-person mock trials and focus groups
- Remote mock trials and focus groups (via video conference)
- Adversarial focus groups for settlement negotiations
- Focus groups before mediation
- And more.
Schedule your free consultation with Kanter Ostler. Call us at (619) 304-2244 today.