Behind the scenes of a mock jury

In the United States, when a company is preparing for jury trial involving a case of significant value, it is common to retain a mock jury to simulate the role of a jury in the courtroom.

Jury members weigh the presented facts and are then tasked with reaching a consensus to resolve the case. In civil matters, a plaintiff has a burden of proving its case by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning it is the plaintiff who has to demonstrate that the pertinent facts are more likely than not to be true. For companies, a jury trial presents some challenges including, for example, possible negative attitudes among citizens towards large corporations, particularly international corporations doing business in the United States.

Mock trials bring multiple benefits

A mock jury is a group of people hired to evaluate the potential situation and reactions to evidence and arguments presented by lawyers. The idea of mock juries is to allow lawyers to identify and predict both challenges and weaknesses that may rise during trial simulation. Generally, a mock jury consists of eight to twelve members that mirror the arrangement of a real jury. Mock jurors have common requirements, similar to a real jury in an actual trial, such as minimum age for participation, US citizenship, English language fluency, a clean criminal record, and mental health requirements.

The main benefits of arranging a mock jury trial are considered to be evidence clarification, witness evaluation, argument testing, strategy refinement, new evidence discovery, cost efficiency for trial preparation, realistic trial simulation, and the possibility to test a diverse juror pool.

The mock jury trial provides the party of a lawsuit with the chance to simulate a real trial situation from opening and closing arguments, presentation of evidence, and overall strategy. Secondly, organising a mock jury trial is beneficial to allow attorneys and the client to gain understanding from juror perceptions, predicting juror reactions and possible verdicts, as well as refining witness testimonies, and uncovering jury selection related issues and details.

Mock trials also reduce unexpected developments by familiarising attorneys with a variety of potential juror reactions and questions. This preparation fosters more confident and effective courtroom performances. Overall, mock juries are an invaluable resource for trial preparation, offering attorneys crucial feedback and insights to refine their strategies and enhance their likelihood of success in court.

Setting up a mock jury

For the selection of a mock jury, four main methods are presented. Attorneys ensure the close resemblances of a real jury by guaranteeing the demographic and characteristic factors of a real jury. Therefore, mock jury selection can be done randomly from choosing participants from a voter or jury duty registration lists, to contacting recruitment companies, outreach communities, or select a pre-screened focus group.

According to Rauna Irjala, Large and International Claims Manager at If, “It is rather common to use a mock jury in cases where the risks are considered to be high, both in terms of evaluation of our insured’s liability and especially related to the monetary amount of the potential verdict against our insured. Often there are multiple defendants in lawsuits and apportionment of liability between these companies is a key legal factor in the case, and also causes uncertainty of the risk of each party."

"We are all painfully aware that nuclear verdicts of tens or hundreds of millions of dollars are increasingly common in the US. The mock jury or in some cases several juries provide a verdict in the case, offering insight into how a real jury might rule on the distribution of liability for the parties and the amount of the verdict.”

Evaluating the risks

Rauna Irjala highlights that the best practices for setting up a mock jury depend on the case. Usually, the defence counsel can and will recommend how to set up the mock trial. Outside service providers are often used to select the jury and organise the trial where the actual defence counsel then litigates the case. “In our experience, it may be a valuable idea to take part in the mock trial to see the case from the litigation perspective.”

Rauna Irjala concludes, that in her experience, the greatest benefit of mock jury trials is their effectiveness in assessing the risks of each individual case, considering the specific venue of the lawsuit. Mock jury trials are a useful tool in the box to evaluate the potential settlement value and strengths and weaknesses of the case. A reasonable settlement benefits the insured, as it saves time and effort while mitigating the risk of an extreme jury verdict which may even exceed the insurance coverage limits.

Meet our expert

Rauna Irjala

Large and International Claims Manager Finland

References

  • What Is a Mock Jury? (With Common Juror Requirements) | Indeed.com
  • The Online Trial Experience | eJury.com
  • 7 Benefits of Mock Trials | U.S. Legal Support | uslegalsupport.com
  • Online Mock Trials vs. In-Person Mock Trials: Pros and Cons | firstcourt.com
  • age_rr4| nber.org
  • How to Use Mock Trials in Case Evaluation and Trial Preparation | Blog | Legal.EmotionTrac.com
  • Mock Juries in the COVID Era | Attorney at Law Magazine | attorneyatlawmagazine.com
  • Mock Juries | decisionanalyst.com
  • Mock jury trials | nlrg.com

Written by

Oona Seppä