Courtroom Views is pleased to welcome special guest Amy Singer, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Trial Consultants, Inc. Dr. Singer is a nationally recognized authority in the field of litigation psychology, a discipline which she helped to pioneer. In addition, Dr. Singer has also authored a number of books and articles on litigation strategy, including Trials and Deliberations: Inside the Jury Room, published by West.
CVN: Well let's start with the jurors themselves. In March of this year, you told CNN that the weak economy might affect the kind of people who end up on juries.
Dr. Singer: Yes, absolutely. You will see drastic and dramatic changes in your juries. Folks that have been affected by the economy, including but not limited to losing their jobs, foreclosures, job hunters, small retail business owners will be gone!!
Dr. Singer: It certainly depends upon the corporation. For example, if a corporation can show that they are very "green" (such as Honda) will fare better then those that are not as environmentally concerned. The other variable is the reputation of the corporation and how they are treating their employees and the public in this economy. If your corporation is in the banking industry or tied to subprime mortgages, I feel sorry for you! We always ask what stocks, mutual funds, etc., potential jurors have and how they have been affected.
CVN: At CVN we have noticed much higher verdicts this year as opposed to last year -- in all kinds of cases: Tobacco, Asbestos, Products Liability. With the banking crisis and the BP Oil crisis, and continuing weakness in the economy, are juries possibly less sympathetic to corporations right now?
CVN: Is technology changing how litigants can handle juries?
Dr. Singer: Yes. Wired jurors tend to come from Gen X and Gen Y, which make up 52% of the jury pool nationwide!!
These individuals are cynical...they do not come from the "handshake generation" as I refer to my generation of baby boomers.
Furthermore, they can not insulate themselves from outside influences even with specific jury instructions not to investigate, post research, experiment or even use their cell phones, or computers!! The reason why they do not follow instructions is because they are passive aggressive and suffer from oppositional defiant disorder. It is like wrangling a bunch of cats...
We could have an entire interview just about this.
Dr. Singer: I like voir dire as pronounced voir dear.. voir dire (rhymes with crier, sounds stressful to me). Of course, either way is correct.
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CVN: We very much look forward to that! One final question: What is really, truly the correct way to pronounce "voir dire?" Rhymes with...
Dr. Amy Singer is the founder and CEO of Trial Consultants, Inc. You can reach her at jurydoctor@aol.com.
