Jury Selection

Quite often during voir dire, attorneys will use pre-emptory challenges to discount jurors based upon demographics, or based upon ‘hunches’ from intuition. While this can be helpful, research has repeatedly revealed that juror demographics rarely predict verdicts. Instead, individual juror attitudes and beliefs are most important in determining their decisions. These attitudes are revealed by questioning prospective jurors about their thoughts and experiences, and by real-time jury research conducted during voir dire.

PTC consultants assist in helping attorneys determine what individual jurors think. Our job is to arm you with an understanding of what, why, and how the decision-makers are thinking as your case evolves. When you understand what they think about your case and how they reach their decisions, attorneys can make more informed choices about strategies to implement at every step of the trial.

As members of the jury pool provide their responses during voir dire, a PTC consultant sits alongside, tracking information of each potential juror. Subscription-based background-check software used by HR firms and private investigators, as well as many social media platforms, are combed in real-time for information to adequately and quickly profile each potential juror. PTC’s experienced and skilled consultants can assist attorneys throughout each step of the jury selection process, reducing burden and increasing likelihood of a favorable result.

Exhibit Presentation

When presenting your case in the courtroom, PTC consultants are experts at utilizing a complete array of multimedia presentation tools and techniques to properly convey your case to a jury. During focus groups, mock trials, mediations, arbitrations, and most especially during trials, PTC consultants present your case through the use of computer software, audio, and visual equipment to display case documents, graphics, and videos. Electronic trial presentations are an extremely effective tool for increasing juror understanding of the case, facilitating the jurors’ sense of engagement, and enhancing juror memory of important information. Utilizing electronic presentation, all types of jurors can better visualize and understand even the most complex cases.

• PTC consultants are always prepared to present, enlarge, highlight, underline, rotate, arrow-point, and even signature match the necessary portions of exhibits that you are using with witnesses or during openings and closings in real-time, providing the most effective transmission of information to the jury.
• All of the exhibits are indexed and ready to present to the jury at any time. In addition to the necessary trial documents, the PTC consultants have transcripts and video depositions prepared for on-the-fly impeachment during cross-examination.
• During the trial, real-time strategy development revisits earlier research and ongoing developments in the case, and helps tailor it to the specific jury selected.

Shadow Juries

When warranted, a shadow jury is utilized and monitored during proceedings by a proctor on the PTC team. These 4-6 shadow jurors spend their day in the gallery, sequestered from the actual jury and transparent to both the judge and the other side. The shadow jurors are intensively interviewed each evening after trial ends for the day. Their reactions and opinions can provide invaluable feedback on the effectiveness of the presentation and dynamics of each trial, allowing attorneys to instrumentally address areas of confusion for the next day.

War-Room

Previous to the trial, a PTC consultant will be in close contact with a court clerk in the trial’s venue to insure that a war-room can be utilized. There, witnesses can be prepped, snacks and drinks can be housed, the team can convene during breaks and lunches, and a PTC printer and paper is provided for use during trial.

Trial Director

PTC consultants are certified and exclusively utilize the exhibit presentation software TrialDirector. This means literally having access to thousands of documents just a click away, and that the presentation of those documents will be polished, interactive, and most importantly, compelling. TrialDirector trial presentation software is the industry standard, and has held a majority of the trial presentation market share for more than 15 years.

Using TrialDirector allows the PTC consultant to seamlessly present any exhibits such as documents, transcripts, graphics, animations, photos, medical illustrations, and videos at the attorney’s direction. Not limited to storyboard-type software such as Microsoft’s PowerPoint, TrialDirector allows immediate access to any exhibit at any time.