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A2L Articles About Mock Trials, Demonstratives and Trial Technology

Explaining Patent Claim Language in Patent Litigation
Friday, May 18, 2012 Ryan Flax
Quick, tell me what this patent claim language means: Unless you’re a patent geek like me , you probably haven’t the foggiest idea how to interpret this language.  But if you are an attorney in a patent infringement litigation, your job is not only to explain to a judge and jury what claim language means, but do so in a convincing and persuasive manner. If the fact finder remains as perplexed after your presentation as you were on first reading of these words, you...Read More
3 Ways to Handle a Presentation-Challenged Expert Witness
Thursday, May 10, 2012 Ken Lopez
At A2L, we have the privilege of working with experts in many diverse and highly technical fields, such as software patents, polymer patents, semiconductor patents, medical device design, environmental remediation, construction, financial disclosure, economic damages, transportation safety, corporate management and many more. When we work with these highly educated and often brilliant specialists – people whose testimony can often make the difference between victory and...Read More
5 Top Litigation Consulting Report Articles from Q1
Tuesday, May 8, 2012 Ken Lopez
After a year of providing expert commentary on trials, litigation graphics , jury research , courtroom hot seat best practices and similar topics, I think it’s time to take stock. In the past year, the A2L Consulting blog, The Litigation Consulting Report , has gone from zero subscribers to nearly one thousand. There have been more than two thousand downloads from our popular litigation e-book series . We have given away four iPads, a prize we give each quarter to one...Read More
5 Surprises in Going from IP Litigator to Litigation Consultant
Thursday, May 3, 2012 Ryan Flax
by Ryan H. Flax, Esq. Managing Director, Litigation Consulting A2L Consulting Ryan Flax joins A2L Consulting on the heels of practicing Intellectual Property (IP) law as part of the Intellectual Property team at Dickstein Shapiro LLP, a national law firm based in Washington, DC.  Over the course of his career, Ryan has obtained jury verdicts totaling well over $1 billion in damages on behalf of his clients and has helped clients navigate the turbulent waters of their competitors&rsq...Read More
In Trial Presentation - A Camel is a Horse Designed by Committee
Friday, Apr 27, 2012 Ken Lopez
There is an old expression that a camel is a horse designed by committee. The expression means that when many individuals design something as a group, every imaginable feature will go into the finished product – and it will end up with many important features. But the product will have lost its beauty – and sometimes will have lost some of its usefulness as a complete entity. Working with trial teams to create a trial presentation can sometimes feel a bit like designing a...Read More

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About A2L Consulting

A2L Consulting offers litigation consulting services to law firms and corporations worldwide. The firm's services include jury consulting, the consultative design of litigation graphics and deployment of pre-trial technology, courtroom electronics and the personnel to support that technology.

A2L headquarters is in Washington, DC and it has personnel or a presence in New York, Miami, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The firm's work routinely takes it to those cities plus Boston, Newark, New Jersey, Wilmington, Delaware, Philadelphia, Virginia, Maryland, Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix and London, England.

Since 1995, A2L Consulting has worked with litigators from 100% of top law firms on more than 10,000 cases with trillions of dollars cumulatively at stake.

Conducting a Mock Trial: A2L Consulting Can Support the Effort Anywhere in the World

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We believe that some form of mock trial should be conducted months before trial in any civil case with more than $2 million at stake. Thus, at A2L Consulting, our question is simply to what degree should the mock trial simulate reality?

The value of conducting a mock trial dramatically outweighs the time and expense of conducting a mock trial.  We have seen the benefits time and time again.  We believe the benefits of a mock trial principally include:

  • EARLY PREPARATION OF ARGUMENTS: Forcing trial counsel, and everyone around them, to prepare early - sometimes while discovery is still open - leads to better overall case preparation and less last-minute scrambling and short-cutting.  As the ABA recently noted about running a mock trial, "the savvy trial lawyer wants to know every way she can lose her case."
     
  • CONFLICT RESOLUTION: Getting a sense of the value of the case early can lead to settlement.  We've seen counsel share jury consulting reports to demonstrate the reasonableness of a settlement figure.
     
  • TRIAL GRAPHICS PREPARATION: Early preparation of litigation graphics leads to more effective litigation graphics later. As we frequently tell our clients, there is broad scientific consensus on the belief that about two-thirds of the population prefers to learn visually.  Accordingly, the visual presentation must be given considerable weight in a mock trial. 
     
  • BETTER UNDERSTAND THE AUDIENCE: Whether a jury or bench trial in the city or the country, there is tremendous value in understanding the audience a litigator will present to.  After all, they can't ask questions.  So, it is helpful to understand in advance what they are likely to understand and easily reference without a lot of explanation.  This varies from venue to venue (i.e. mining safety, mutual funds or what is means to own a small business).
     
  • BETTER UNDERSTAND THE EFFECTIVINESS OF THE WITNESSES:  Often a witness cannot be judged until they are exposed to the stress of the mock trial.  It is always best to learn the strengths and weaknesses of a witness early, not when it is too late to make a difference in their preparation or presentation style.

A mock trial can take many forms - sometimes A2L Consulting is very involved, sometimes we are only slightly involved.  For example, a mock trial could be a:

  • SMALL MOCK TRIAL: Attorneys from the same firm, often 1st and 2nd chair of the trial team, make one hour presentations about each side of the case to a collection of other attorneys and admin staff from the firm acting as mock jurors.
     
    • Pros: Testing is some form is essential, and better an imperfect test than none at all. Some commonsense reactions to the case and evidence can be gleaned.
       
    • Cons: Without testing graphics - two-thirds of jurors prefer to learn visually - one major variable is being left out of the test.  See our 3-year study on litigator-juror communications.  Further, the law firm staff is not usually representative of the audience.  
       
  • MEDIUM MOCK TRIAL: Attorneys from the same firm present both sides of the case and prepare independently of one another.  Both sides are given the opportunity to develop a trial presentation, usually in the form of a "clopening" presented in PowerPoint. Judges or jurors are recruited with no knowledge of the case and asked for their reactions.

    • Pros: Much can be learned from this mock trial approach.  Most of the benefits listed above will be inured.
       
    • Cons: Choosing the mock judges and/or mock jurors from a venue the case will be held in is ideal and a factor that if not present can be hard to control for (i.e. it's hard to simulate Mississippi in Manhattan).  However, this can increase cost by adding travel expenses and a leased mock trial facility.
       
  • LARGE MOCK TRIAL: Attorneys from different but equally prepared law firms present each side of the case in a long form presentation of 4-8 hrs for each side over multiple days.  Witnesses are used (even if in video depo form only). Graphics are extensively used.  The case is organized into an opening, case-in-chief and closing.  Mock jurors and mock judges for the trial are pulled from the case venue. Multiple groups of judges or jurors are asked to deliberate in private and their results are compared. Trained social scientists prepare survey questions that will elicit a helpful and statistically accurate assessment of the mock trial.
     
    • Pros: All of the benefits of a mock trial are fully realized. An accurate simulation of trial is achieved.  For perfection, the entire process should be repeated.
       
    • Cons: Large mock trials should be conducted only when there is a bet the company matter, personal or financial ruin is possible or anytime there is at least $10 million reasonably at stake.

No one size fits all of course.  Accordingly, we invite you to discuss a mock trial with us. We are happy to discuss our approach, provide an estimate or just brainstorm your team's options.  Please contact:
 
Nina Doherty
National Director, Business Development
A2L Consulting
800.337.7697 x121
doherty@A2LC.com

To learn more about how to conduct a mock trial or related information, please visit the following on-site A2L resources:

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