Senior Trial Consultant
Marjorie J. Sommer is a founding partner of Focus Litigation Consulting, LLC. Sommer has worked in the trial consulting field for over twenty (20) years and has facilitated well over one thousand (1000) focus groups and mock trials. Through her two decades of experience conducting pretrial jury research, analyzing juror comments and feedback, developing trial strategies, tactics and recommendations for more effective and winning case presentations, and assisting in the jury de-selecting process, Sommer is a proven and invaluable component to any trial team.
Sommer has consulted in a vast array of legal specializations, including environmental and toxic torts; intellectual property; breach of contract; fraud of all varieties, including massive ponzi schemes involving hundreds of millions of dollars; all types of professional malpractice (legal, medical, accounting, architectural, engineering, etc.); insurance bad faith; banking and securities fraud; brain injuries; personal injuries and wrongful death; automobile, motorcycle, pedestrian, taxi, truck and train accidents; products liability of all types; aviation; cruise ship liability; premises liability and security; construction defects; employment and wage and hour cases; whistleblower and civil rights; guns; use of excessive force by law enforcement; unfair competition and anti-trust; nursing home cases; civil sexual assault; ERISA; oil and gas related issues; dog bites; tobacco; class action suits; and criminal matters such as murder, rape, bombings, illegal drugs and vehicular homicides. Sommer has spoken to over 10,000 real people across the country (in 29 states and the District of Columbia) about real case issues to assist her clients in better understanding how jurors perceive, deliberate and decide their cases.
Sommer has spoken to various trial associations on the subject of trial consulting and jury selection and has taught jury issue related CLE courses in Colorado, California, Florida, Arizona, West Virginia and Wyoming. She has spoken to such organizations as ATLA, AAJ, CTLA, CDLA, ABA, and the California Brain Injury Association. Sommer has also appeared on CBS and CNN as an expert on jury perception regarding the Oklahoma City Bombing case, and has also been called upon by nationwide syndicated shows for legal analysis.
Sommer practiced law for twenty years and earned her J.D. in 1975 from the University of Florida College of Law. She received her B.A., Magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 1973. She was admitted to practice in Florida in 1975, and in Colorado in 1979. She practiced law in the areas of Criminal Law (both as prosecutor and a criminal defense attorney), Commercial Litigation, Construction Litigation, Title Insurance Defense, Employment Law, Administrative Law, Family Law, Estate Planning and Securities.