Senior Trial Consultant
Dr. Geri Fischman is a founding partner of Focus Litigation Consulting, LLC. Dr. Fischman specializes in juror behavior and decision-making as well as the analysis of complex evidentiary and witness issues in civil and criminal cases involving tort, contract, fraud, intellectual property, professional malpractice, banking/securities, and product liability across the country. Through the use of mock trials, focus groups, and surveys, Dr. Fischman assists attorneys, in-house counsel, insurers, and companies in the development of persuasive case themes and strategies, jury selection, and case valuation. As a former complex commercial litigator and certified image consultant, Dr. Fischman also specializes in witness preparation, arming clients with strategic visual presentation techniques and tools to create credibility, authenticity, and likeability as well as to increase persuasion and advocacy in the courtroom. Dr. Fischman’s clients include government institutions and Fortune 500 companies as well as local, regional, national and international law firms.
Dr. Fischman’s work has been published in leading academic and applied social science journals, including Law and Human Behavior and Forensic Science. Additionally, Dr. Fischman regularly lectures on topics related to jury research and trial consulting across the country, including at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s trial lawyers conference in DC. Dr. Fischman also teaches courses on legal psychology at Florida International University and jury selection at the University of Miami School of Law as part of the Litigation Skills program.
Dr. Fischman obtained a Ph.D. in Legal Psychology from Florida International University, conducting research on cognition, perception, and juror decision-making. While at FIU, Dr. Fischman worked with over 200 federal and local law enforcement officers to examine the efficacy of training on the Cognitive Interview, and Dr. Fischman was awarded the FIU College of Arts and Sciences’ Psychology Best Thesis Award. Previously, Dr. Fischman graduated magna cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law, serving as an editor of the University of Miami Law Review. Dr. Fischman also graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Florida with a dual degree in English (Linguistics/Writing) and Criminology.
Prior to joining Focus Litigation Consulting, LLC, Dr. Fischman spent a number of years practicing complex commercial litigation at one of Florida’s premier and largest law firms, where she represented corporate and institutional clients including a professional basketball team, performing arts center, South American country, Chinese drywall manufacturer, international sunscreen manufacturer, multiple international banking institutions, and various regional and national law firms in courts and forums across the country, including, but not limited to, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, and California state court, the U.S. District Court for the Southern, Middle, and Northern Districts of Florida, Southern District of New York, District of Connecticut, District of Hawaii, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second and Eleventh Circuits, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, the American Arbitration Association, and the Delaware Court of Chancery.
Dr. Fischman is a member of the Implicit Bias Research Team of the American Society of Trial Consultants (ASTC), as well as a member of the ASTC’s Civil Jury Project Task Force. Dr. Fischman also formerly served on a Florida Bar Eleventh Judicial Circuit Grievance Committee, and was the membership co-chair of the Miami-Dade Florida Association of Women Lawyers. Dr. Fischman is a former Dade County Bar Association Board Member (and a Past-President of the Dade County Bar Association, YLS), and has spearheaded award-winning programming for the Association, including the annual Bench and Bar Conference, Bar Passage Program, and annual Superlawyers CLE Mock Trial. Dr. Fischman also proudly serves on the board of directors for City Theatre, and volunteers at South Florida libraries, schools, and nursing homes with her dogs Zeus and Frankenstein as part of the Humane Society of Miami’s therapy dogs program.