Law Technology Today From the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center
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Jury research is a critical — but sometimes expensive — component of litigation. New online tools are making it easier and more affordable.
DecisionQuest helped start the practice of jury research over 30 years ago, and has proven the value of live mock trials and quantitative research for 20,000+ trials. But due to the associated time and expense, traditional mock trials have always been reserved for higher-budget, higher-profile litigation.
Enter the Internet, specifically the latest wave of fast, stable, secure web conferencing and surveying platforms. DecisionQuest is using these web tools to reinvent its research services for the rest of us.
The company’s efforts are built around two core products: JuryLive and CaseXplorer. JuryLive uses a live, moderated, video web conference to create an online mock trial experience. CaseXplorer is a survey tool that lets litigators build detailed legal surveys and canvas venues from across the country. Together, the two tools provide qualitative and quantitative jury insight that approximates traditional jury research for significantly less time and investment.
JuryLive
JuryLive is a live “jury,” moderated by a DecisionQuest trial consultant, ideal for presenting case elements, probing for understanding, and seeing how a potential jury reacts and interacts to a case in real time.
In practice, JuryLive is a 2-3 hour mock jury, moderated online. It provides a fast, effective way to convene a mock jury with a DecisionQuest consultant on hand to run the conversation and tease out juror reactions.
Test virtually any element of your case — video testimony, annotated transcripts, animations, opening and closing arguments, etc. JuryLive’s web conferencing platform supports rich media, screen sharing and multi-way discussions.
JuryLive can convene panels from practically any jurisdiction in the United States. This lets litigators see and hear jury reactions from their specific case venue. The entire JuryLive session is recorded as it happens. You can download the file, share it with colleagues for review and scrub through it frame by frame. Watching jurors react intellectually and emotionally to the particulars of your case is invaluable. Visit http://Go-JL.com to learn more about JuryLive.
CaseXplorer
CaseXplorer is a self-service, online tool that litigators can use to survey surrogate jurors in venues across the United States, providing a quick, quantitative insight into juror sentiment and understanding regarding a case.
CaseXplorer is an interesting proposition: a self-service online survey tool that gives you access to a nationwide pool of qualified surrogate jurors with a database of legal questions based on DecisionQuest’s 30 years of jury research experience.
Anyone can create an account and start building surveys, and you don’t spend a penny until you send a survey out to a surrogate juror pool. It’s easy to build surveys, plus it gives you a glimpse into your venue’s demographics and access to DecisionQuest’s library of vetted, litigation-specific questions. Those features alone are worth the (free) price of entry.
The survey engine lets you choose from a library of questions, or create your own questions; what’s more, you can upload video, graphics and transcripts you want respondents to review. Embed video of closing arguments or depositions and ask detailed questions to gauge reaction and understanding.
It only takes 24-48 hours to get complete results for most venues. The report is packed with graphs and visualizations (including detailed demographics about the jury pool) that make digesting the results easy. However, when it comes to drawing the right conclusions, you may want to set aside some of your research budget for a DecisionQuest consultant to offer insight.
You can create the survey on your own or DecisionQuest can help you with any CaseXplorer survey. Preliminary consultations, survey design and analysis of the final report are all available for an hourly fee.
Each survey has a base price of $2,500, plus $50 per question and $70 per survey respondent. So a 10-question survey of 100 respondents would cost just $10,000. For a demographically precise survey backed by DecisionQuest’s extensive library of legal questions, that’s a significant value for your case. Visit http://Go-CX.com to learn more about CaseXplorer.
