Shadow
Juries

During trial, it is not possible to talk to actual jurors and ask their opinions of the case presentation. Shadow jurors, therefore, play an essential role in determining whether a trial team is scoring points with the real jury, whether additional information is needed for juror understanding, and whether attorneys are on target with their trial strategy, witnesses, and case presentations.

A shadow jury consists of a group of mock jurors that observe court proceedings and communicates their impressions to Focus Litigation Consulting at regular intervals during the trial (e.g. breaks, lunch time, and at the conclusion of each trial day). Focus Litigation Consulting recruits shadow jurors to closely approximate the characteristics of the empaneled jurors. At the end of each trial day, shadow jurors are debriefed by Focus Litigation Consulting to determine case strengths and weaknesses, unanswered questions, and factual and legal sticking points, to allow the trial team to refine its case presentation and make adjustments, where needed, on a daily basis. The shadow jury’s observations provide invaluable insight into the progress and possible outcome of a case. When used, shadow juries aid in the reassessment of cases and in making informed decisions throughout the course of the trial.