OTLA Trial Lawyer Fall 2020

46 Trial Lawyer • Fall 2020 By Earl Christison OTLA Guardian By Erin Christison OTLA Guardian S ometimes lawyers need a reality check. Sometimes we become so consumed with the legal aspects of our cases, so concerned with proving the elements of negligence or the standard of care, we forget the audience we are speaking to has no idea what those words mean — and probably doesn’t care. So, what does this mean and what can we do about it? Focus groups are the answer. 1 The mantra is: Don’t guess, test. Do you want to know what your case is about? Do you want to know how jurors will react to a certain phrase? Do you Erin Christison Earl Christison want to know if the demonstrative evi- dence you will present has the effect you hope it will? Do you want to know if the jury will like you or will like what you are wearing? Don’t guess, test. Ask a focus group. Because of recent and dramatic changes in the world, attorneys are pursu- ing new ways focus groups can be conducted. People’s perception of the world are also drastically changing, which suggests maybe you should be focus grouping on a regular basis. New tools for a new world Emotions and individuality are the key to finding out what the jury wants. We have conducted several focus groups since social distancing (a word that did not exist in our vocabulary this time a year ago) became in vogue. There are two main epiphanies we found from these focus groups. First, it does not matter where you focus group in the U.S., you will likely get the same answers. Second, the way to run a focus group now has infinite possibilities and can still lead to valuable information. Combined, these two concepts have shown us that online focus grouping can be highly successful. We have obtained focus group opin- ions on both general information and case specific issues. The type of informa- tion you want will determine what platform you want to use. Most case specific focus grouping is best the same old way — getting a group of people The Virtual Way the new world of focus groups