Jury and Trial Strategy Consultants

Steven D. Sherbel, Ph.D.

Address

7021 Yorkshire Court

West Bloomfield MI 48322

Phone

(248) 255-1184

Email

sdsherbelphd@comcast.net

Generally, we provide more services than our peers, and we offer a very competitive fee structure.

The total cost of a Mock Trial or Focus Group will vary according to the scope of the project. Some of the variables are:

How much of a document review will be required of us?

• As aforesaid, what distinguishes our services, is that we study the salient documents from the case file before the Trial Simulation, and then advise on trial and presentation strategy. It is our practice to apply 51% of our time and effort to assist the attorney who is presenting the case against our client during the Mock Trial, so as to avoid a “rosy scenario”. This protects both the client and the law firm.
  

How many Parties will be presenting their respective cases-in-chief at the actual trial, and hence at the Mock Trial?

• Multiple Parties often require that we present three (or more) cases-in-chief to our Mock Trial jurors.
• This will require that we assist three (or more) attorneys with their preparation for their Opening Statements/Presentations.
  

How many Mock Trial jurors will participate?

• This can range from 8-10 (for a small Focus Group) to 60 or more jurors.
• The jurors need to be recruited, compensated, and fed meals.
  

How many Deliberations will we have?

• Each deliberation requires a separate conference room, each with video-recording equipment.
  

How long is the Mock Trial/Focus Group?

• Approximately 40% of our Mock Trials are 8-9 hours long.
• Approximately 60% of our Mock Trials are 1.5 to 2 days long.
• Occasionally, we perform Mock Trials that require three days.
  

What type of Results Analysis, or Report do you require?

• An Executive Summary includes a statistical tally of the Mock Trial results.
• A full Results Report includes a statistical tally of the Mock Trial results, plus a qualitative analysis of the strong and weak points of the respective Parties. Also included is the identification of the “key themes” for each (or all) of the Parties, and an assessment of how the Mock Trial jurors reacted to them.
• Where we have shown video-deposition excerpts to our jurors, we include an Opinion Survey to assess how our jurors perceived each key witness.
  

Do you require a case-specific Jury Selection Analysis?

• 
  
• Our Jury Selection Analysis is case-specific and is empirically derived. We use a proprietary analysis where we rank order every Mock Trial juror from most favorable to the Defendant [color coded = Blue] to most favorable to the Plaintiff [color coded = Red]. We then produce approximately two dozen (color coded) charts correlating various juror characteristics [i.e. gender, education level, ethnicity, various demographic characteristics, life experiences, Voir Dire responses, etc.] with their Pro-Plaintiff or Pro-Defendant orientation.  
  

Where will the Mock Trial/Focus Group be held?

• Typically, the cost of multiple conference rooms, audio-visual services, recruiting, catering, and juror compensation is considerably greater in certain large cities, than they are in the Southern or Mid-Western states.
  

Will we perform both a Mock Trial and a Focus Group concurrently?

• This is a cost effective procedure with many beneficial variations. Typically, all of our jurors would hear the cases-in-chief of the respective Parties. Following this, some of them are assigned to a deliberation group, while others would participate in a Focus Group.
  

We suggest that you peruse the above list of alternatives and choices, and then contact us directly to discuss options. We can make case-specific suggestions tailored to your needs and budget. We can then give you an estimate of the total cost of your project.

Under no circumstances should you discuss or release any information to us that is privileged or confidential until we have reached a mutually acceptable agreement, and reduced it to writing.

What is the Total Cost of a Mock Trial, Focus Group or Trial Simulation?

Jury and Trial Strategy Consultants

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