Dr. Rachel York Colangelo is the National Managing Director of Jury Consulting at Magna Legal Services. Dr. Rachel has a doctorate in legal psychology from Florida International University and a bachelor’s in psychology and sociology from the University of Virginia. Dr. Rachel has over a decade of experience in litigation consulting and has provided litigation support in a variety of criminal and civil matters. In this week’s episode, Dr. Rachel shares what goes behind the jury selection process and how do you know if you have the right person (or the wrong one) on your trial!

 

Key Takeaways

• A bit about Dr. Rachel and how she got started as a litigation consultant.
• What goes behind selecting a good juror?
• Picking the right juror is not an exact science, but Dr. Rachel prefers to pick them based on data and research.
• Dr. Rachel does a mock trial before the actual trial to determine the strengths and weaknesses of both sides of the case.
• Based on that, Dr. Rachel can find people who are more or less susceptible to the trial's storyline.
• When it comes to jury selection, you are unable to pick the 6-8 jurors you want. Instead, you have to deselect what's available to you based on their bias or openness to listen to the trial's narrative.
• What have been some of the 'hot' industries that have required services for jury consulting?
• In large liability cases, those payout numbers keep going up and up. Why is that and how can professionals potentially mitigate this?
• Dr. Rachel explains what ‘reptile strategy’ is and how it’s used in court.
• After the jury has been selected and the trial begins, Dr. Rachel shares how both sides try to influence the jury.
• Dr. Rachel shares her differences in approach to a new trial vs. an appeal.
• No product hits the shelves without it being tested by the consumer, the same is true with a legal case. Pre-trial jury research is critical.
• Are jury consultants expensive?
• When does it make sense to settle vs. going to trial?
• Interested in this field? Dr. Rachel shares some of the pros and cons of this kind of work!
• Where does Dr. Rachel see the future of this industry going in the next five years?
• Is there anything Dr. Rachael wishes she’d known about sooner in her career?

 

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