Doogie Howser prodigies nor elder statesmen are a juror’s ideal.
We fielded a survey earlier this month and asked the nearly 800
respondents to tell us the “ideal number” of years a doctor or
nurse should have under his or her belt.
It turns out the sweet spot is six to 10 years, with 55 percent of
participants choosing this as the experience level they want in
their healthcare provider. Eleven to 20 years of experience fared
almost as well, with 34 percent of respondents wanting a doctor
with this number of years in the field.
To us, the outliers were the most interesting aspect of this survey. While only four percent of respondents preferred five or fewer years of experience, only six percent wanted a healthcare provider with 20 to 30 years. Less than two percent believed 30 or more years was the ideal.
These “sweet spot” biases uncovered in the survey are consistentwith those we have observed jurors apply in the courtroom.
Exit interviews conducted over the years have indicated the most
effective experts typically are those who jurors want astheir own
doctor or nurse. Just as jurors often have a difficult time trusting
an unseasoned “rookie,” so too are they skeptical of a doctor with “too much experience” and a potentially obsolete education. We have also heard the “arrogance” often associated with doctors is believed to be magnified among the oldest in the field, who jurors consider to be “too stubborn” to consider the latest research, medical advances or differing opinions when providing their opinions.
If you are in the position of presenting a highly experienced – or
the opposite – witness at trial, we suggest making your weakness
your strength. For the newbie, project energy and focus on
the fact he or she knows the latest in medical advances. For
the veteran, discuss that person’s high level of experience, the
“hundreds” or “thousands” of applicable procedures that person
has performed, and review any and all continuing education that person has received to ensure their knowledge base is relevant.
If you would like to talk about how to apply these findings to one
of your cases, please call us at 714.754.1010.
Posts
