Get to Know Your Jurisdiction

We have long believed learning as much as possible about your trial jurisdiction is an important but often overlooked part of the trial preparation process.  This may seem obvious if the jurisdiction is a county or state that is unfamiliar to you, but we believe it is equally true even if you’re in your home jurisdiction where you’ve tried dozens of cases.

Just because we live and work in a place doesn’t mean we always know everything about it. People tend to associate with others like themselves, so we may not be exposed to those in our own communities who see the world differently than we do.  These disparate worldviews can and often do affect how jurors will see a case.

It is also true that times change, and any given jurisdiction may not be the same as it was 20, 10 or even five years ago.  For example, a gay plaintiff might have had a hard time getting a fair shake in some jurisdictions a decade or two ago, but that might not be true any more for many of those same jurisdictions.

Similarly, demographic trends – such as an increasing number of Hispanics in many parts of the country or young, affluent people flocking to inner cities – can impact the composition and attitudes of a potential jury pool.

There are also case-specific factors you should consider as you assess your jurisdiction.  For example, we’ve noticed that even extremely conservative, predominantly white jurisdictions have become more receptive to police brutality and wrongful conviction lawsuits as these issues have been front and center in the news during the past couple of years.  Similarly, media attention to the issue of “pill mills” and prescription drug abuse has affected how many people see the use of narcotics in medicine, and these perceptions and attitudes can impact how jurors assess a doctor’s care.

The point is, there are myriad demographic and sociographic factors at play in any given jurisdiction and for any given case.  No matter how much experience you have in a place, we believe it is worth exploring the attitudes in your jurisdiction and how they might affect perspectives on your case.

There are many ways to do this, of course, but one way is through Jury Impact’s community surveys.  We work with the client to craft a customized survey and then field it to a representative sample of your jurisdiction using proprietary technology developed by our sister company, MFour Mobile Research. 

Through a community survey, we can explore attitudes about everything from the reputation of a hospital or company to thoughts about a relevant hot-button issue.  It can provide an incredible amount of intel – useful during voir dire during every trial in a jurisdiction – for a relatively modest investment.

We’d be happy to walk you through our community surveys and what they can offer you. To find out more, contact Senior Vice President Claire Luna at cluna@juryimpact.net or 714.754.1010.