Jury Impact in Bloomberg and The New York Times

Jury Impact is once again in the news, with Chris St. Hilaire quoted in Thursday editions of Bloomberg and The New York Times.

Here is an excerpt from The New York Times article Selecting Jury for Bonds Is Hard in Giants Country.

Chris St. Hilaire, president of Jury Impact, a jury consulting company based in Costa Mesa, Calif., said that finding a juror without a predisposition toward Bonds would be a challenge.

“Finding someone who doesn’t have an opinion about Barry Bonds is like finding a cowboy who doesn’t have an opinion about a horse,” he said, adding that the ideal juror is likely to be a casual fan who has heard of Bonds, but does not know much about him or the charges against him.

“You’d think that the perfect juror would be someone who loves baseball, but I think the worst juror for them would be a hard-core fan,” he said of what the defense might be looking for. “You want someone who can be swayed by the evidence, not by their agenda.”

And an excerpt from Bloomberg's piece Bonds Jurors Face Ban on Texting, Tweeting About U.S. Trial Under Proposal:

In what jury consultant Chris St. Hilaire called an unusual addition to such questionnaires, prospective jurors would agree in writing to an order forbidding them from communicating via social media, the Internet, “or any other form of electronic communication for any purpose whatsoever,” according to a filing yesterday in federal court in San Francisco.

“I haven’t seen it used before and it’s a recognition of the new world we live in now,” St. Hilaire, president of Costa Mesa, California-based Jury Impact, said in a telephone interview. Lawyers in the case “are trying to be specific because they know how influential social media is now.”

Can You Argue Your Case in 15 Seconds?

The advertising world has a lot in common with courtroom communication: Grab your audience’s attention early or you may lose that audience completely.

A recent Associated Press article reports that 15-second television commercials are replacing 30-second spots as the industry standard because of viewers’ shrinking attention spans. Advertisers are finding that if they can’t make the sale in 15 seconds, they probably can’t make it at all.

This dovetails with our own research showing that 85 percent of focus group jurors deliver the same verdict at the close of the session as at the beginning. This means that no matter what information they hear later in the case, that crucial first impression more often than not determines their final decision.

Although jurors can’t change the channel during trial, they can tune you out. That’s why we recommend making your best arguments and telling your strongest story right away. Once you’ve grabbed jurors’ attention with a succinct, clear storyline they’ll remember for the rest of the trial, you can fill in the details that fit in with that overall theme.

Give us a call if you’d like to discuss our findings further. We’d be happy to share some of our opening statement tips and strategies.

Simple Biases Affecting Verdicts

A recent look into juror perceptions relating to lawsuits and insurance rates yielded some interesting trends. Nationwide data collected from our focus group exercises shows 40% of Americans believe lawsuits are “significantly” contributing to rising insurance costs, while 54% say “somewhat” contributing and 5.5% say “not at all.”

Examining how various demographics play into these perceptions also revealed a notable pattern when age was considered. The trend lines show jurors becoming increasingly aware of the impact of verdicts on insurance costs as they advance in years. This is likely because older jurors are far more likely to be sensitive to insurance costs than younger jurors.


From our perspective, the most remarkable trend is how these perceptions correlate with overall verdicts. Jurors who identified lawsuits as having a “significant” impact on rising insurance costs are 64% more likely to side with the defense, and jurors who choose “not at all” are 57% more likely to side with the plaintiff.


These figures illustrate just how strongly biases can impact and predict juror outcomes. Call us if we can help you uncover those critical biases that will shape strategy for your next trial.

The Power of Persuasion

Getting What You Want—The Power of Persuasion
Posted By: Gloria McDonough-Taub CNBC, Senior Editor, Blogs

Guest Author Blog by: Chris St. Hilaire author of "27 POWERS OF PERSUASION: Simple Strategies To Seduce Audiences & Win Allies"

Persuasion for CEOs (And Those Who Want their Bosses Job)

One critical characteristic in any business leader’s success, especially a CEO's, is their ability to be persuasive. Among the best is their ability to persuade, to get thousands marching in the same direction, it all looks effortless. But we all know it’s not.

So how do they do it?

I’ve watched some of the best CEOs in America in action. I’ve sat with them, talked with them, picked their brains. I’ve watched them lead meetings and solicit opinions and each share common attributes. I’ve watched some lousy CEOs in action too. There tends to be similarities in their styles as well, but let’s focus on the positive.

Here’s five pieces of advice that good leaders follow – and are crucial for business leaders to keep in mind when seeking to persuade one person or an entire company:

1. Focus on the Goal

Whenever you're trying to persuade, your first mission is to define the goal. The most effective way to do this is not to announce the goal to the group, but to help everyone decide on it together. You want to have the largest possible buy-in from everyone involved, and you get it by having everyone contribute to the goal at the beginning.

A good way to get the ball rolling is to simply ask the room, "What's our goal? What are we trying to accomplish today?" Let people talk. Let them give you the answer. If no one speaks up, directly ask them for input. Boil it down to one or two simple sentences that everyone agrees on, even if it seems obvious.

There is great power in stating the obvious. No one wants to do it because it seems so rudimentary, but the minute you state the "obvious" goal of a meeting, you become the leader even if you're not officially in charge. This is because every group has an innate longing to be unified. Confusion and discord make people feel anxious and threatened, and unity makes them feel safe. People unify around a goal.

2. Get Others Invested

Want people to be more enthusiastic about your plan? Make it their idea. Create situations that will encourage the others to speak up, pro or con. Give people choices in which you’re comfortable with either choice. Use their points to support your goal and tie points together using other people’s suggestions. Making everyone in the room right, will unify them around your goal.

It’s a win/win for everyone.

3. Use a Couple of Numbers to Make Points Meaningful

People love to quantify things, even when what we’re stating is an opinion. For some reason it makes points more official. Using a statistic or two (don’t over stat them) creates some official barometer in which to measure success. It also creates the impression that there’s some official measurement involved. You used to see it a lot in commercials where 9 out of 10 dentists surveyed prefer one tooth-paste over another.

4. Learn to Use Silence

Silence and being comfortable with it allows you to take control of a room without seeming aggressive. Try it. Sit silently, comfortably – one of two things will happen. First, if your listener is nervous they’ll add on and you’ll get to what they really think. Second, some of the best solutions to problems come at the end of a statement, after they “seem” finished. Use silence to your advantage.

5. Own the Language

It’s a concept that has long been familiar to people in advertising. For them, the gold standard of owning the language has always been when the product name replaces the actual noun or verb. Classic examples are Kleenex for tissue, Chapstick for lip balm and Fedex for overnight delivery. Your ability to invent terms, to define the language, means that everyone will adopt your thinking.

Just about every aspect of our life involves persuasion. Those who master it are reaping the benefits. I hope you’re one of them.

To read an excerpt of "27 POWERS OF PERSUASION: Simple Strategies To Seduce Audiences & Win Allies" click here.

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Keep It Simple

We once monitored a trial where the jurors returned a verdict in 32 minutes. They would have been faster, the foreman explained later, but they wanted to eat lunch before they started deliberating.

Jurors attributed the speedy defense verdict to attorneys who presented a simple, easily comprehensible story that was consistent from beginning to end of the 14-day trial.

Contrast that with the federal criminal trial of former Illinois Governor Rob Blagojevich, where deliberations alone took 14 days – and ended with a jury deadlocked on 23 of the 24 counts.

Jurors’ comments to the media reveal that the prosecutor’s case collapsed under the weight of its own complexity. “The majority of us felt it was confusing,” juror Eric Sarnello said. “It was all over the place.”

Consider what jurors were given to work with: more than a month’s worth of prosecution witnesses and 100 pages of jury instructions. Even more stunning is what they weren’t given, perhaps the most basic courtroom tool available: a timeline. This oversight forced jurors to spend hours of their deliberations doing what prosecutors should have done for them, piece together the dates and charges from 2001 to Blagojevich’s arrest in 2008.

Our case research has demonstrated that the side who presents the simpler story has the advantage. We suggest making sure before you go to trial that you can tell a compelling story in 30 seconds – basically, an “elevator pitch” for your case. If the other side can’t do this, so much the better.

While the Blagojevich jurors were 11-1 in favor of conviction on the other 23 counts – perhaps compelling evidence that the prosecution’s case was at least in some ways better than the defense’s – the fact is that when the standard is “beyond a reasonable doubt,” the need to streamline should be elevated as well. When this case is retried, prosecutors would be well-advised to remember that focus and restraint are paramount to helping jurors understand what a case is all about.

They would also be prudent to consider that the defense did exactly what it was supposed to do: create doubt through a straightfoward contention that the government had failed to prove its case, all without calling a single witness. “Zip,” is how Blagojevich’s lawyer described their defense.

It’s hard to make it much simpler than that.

Jurors Adding Lawyer Fees

Jurors are typically instructed not to include attorney fees when considering damage awards. Think they’re listening?

Nationwide data collected this year from our jury focus groups is telling: A whopping 76 percent say they would take lawyers’ fees into account when determining damage awards.

That tendency isn’t attributable to Americans’ love of ignoring judges, but rather our implicit belief in “fairness.” During focus group discussions, jurors tell us again and again they “know the lawyers are going to take 30 to 40 percent,” meaning if they believe the injured party requires $1 million to be adequately taken care of, lawyers taking 30 to 40 percent in fees doesn’t sound “fair.”

As you can imagine, this “juror math” can cause large verdicts to quickly grow larger.

Give us a call if you would like to know more about our research in this area. And don’t forget to pre-order Chris St. Hilaire’s new book 27 Powers of Persuasion available online now at major book retailers.

To sign up to receive our Things That Make You Go Hmmm... to your inbox, please e-mail us at info@juryimpact.net

Investors Business Daily: 27 Powers of Persuasion

Chris St. Hilaire's upcoming book 27 Powers of Persuasion was recently featured in Investors Business Daily:

Make A Powerful Case

By Cord Cooper

Getting ahead often means winning people to your point of view. It depends heavily on your approach — and the allies you tap to build your case.

• Bring 'em in. If the idea involves risk, some will be hesitant to show early support, says business coach Chris St. Hilaire, author of "27 Powers of Persuasion."

To win people over, use what he calls "third-party validation." Mention key people who support your idea — whether execs, co-workers or industry heavyweights.

If the idea's gaining traction, "nobody wants to be the last" to climb aboard, he noted.

• Defuse. "One of the easiest ways to soothe an ego is to use the phrase 'From my perspective,'" St. Hilaire said. "Perspective is an incredibly useful word that implies you're going to take the emotion out of the conversation."

• Play it up. When presenting viewpoints, look for strengths in each situation. If you're the only woman in a meeting, "own that perspective instead of ignoring it," St. Hilaire said.

He suggested trying something like this: "Can I tell you what I'm hearing from women? They account for 43% of this market."

If you're young or transitioning to a new career, you may be seen as lacking experience. How to fight it? Offer fresh insights convincingly. Back ideas up with facts.

• Show appreciation. If trying to persuade your boss in a one-on-one meeting, "use the first few minutes to make him feel valued," St. Hilaire said.

Thank him for taking the time to meet with you, then get to the point quickly.

• Phrase it positively. When presenting your case, use key words that gain support, such as choice, accountability and fairness. He gave this example: "I want to make sure you have choices, and that in the end someone is held accountable so we ensure the fairest result."

• Give 'em ammo. To bring people aboard, arm your allies with facts — talking points and statistics they can use to make your case, he says. Keep your points brief, so allies — and their audience — can remember them.

In presentations, simplify your story as much as possible. Show how the endgame can be reached. Stress the benefits.

• Size 'em up. Howard Gardner, author of "Changing Minds," suggests asking yourself:

Does the person you're trying to persuade respond well to an upfront approach, or should you open with questions and examples?

What are the person's hot-button issues?

Is the topic you're about to broach one of those issues?

• Compromise. When seeking support, don't respond to requests with a negative. Saying no has an air of finality. Look for common ground with a "let's-try-this" approach, St. Hilaire said.

• Keep cool. The more calmly you make your case, the more effective it'll be, notes communications coach Jack Griffin, author of "How to Say It at Work."

• Be prepared. List the negatives people could raise — then address them early in your presentation.

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER THE BOOK!