Trial Consultant/Research Analyst
Dr. Michelle Pena is an FLC trial consultant and research analyst. Dr. Pena’s primary practice areas of practice are civil and commercial litigation as well as securities law. Dr. Pena facilitates pre-trial research projects for both plaintiffs and defendants in federal and state court cases across the country. Dr. Pena specializes in quantitative jury research analyses, including, but not limited, to juror profiling, descriptive verdict analyses, and witness credibility assessments. Dr. Pena also assists with jury selection, focusing specifically on individualized prospective juror background and social media searches in real-time in the courtroom.
Dr. Pena obtained her Ph.D. in Legal Psychology from Florida International University (with a minor in Statistics). Dr. Pena has conducted research on confirmation bias, detecting deception, source-monitoring, misinformation in eyewitness memory, investigative interviewing, and legal actors’ decision making. As part of her time at FIU, Dr. Pena conducted a three-phase experimental study investigating lie detection in non-native speakers. She also worked as a graduate research assistant for the high-value detainee interrogation group of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Previously, Dr. Pena graduated magna cum laude from Florida International University with a dual degree in Psychology and Criminal Justice.
Dr. Pena has been published in Memory, in Psychology, Public Policy & Law, in The Police Chief, and in Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, and Dr. Pena has presented her research at numerous legal psychology conferences, including the American Psychology-Law Society Annual Conference, the Association for Psychological Science convention, the biannual meeting of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, and the annual meeting of the FBI’s High Value Detainee Interrogation Group.