Laura L. Dominic's Posts

In an ideal world, every decision we make would involve a careful and logical evaluation of every fact, data, or piece of evidence associated with the subject of the decision. In this world, we would not rush to judgement based …

Let’s face it, most trials are long and boring, especially in today’s sound bite era where most people’s attention spans no further than the time it takes to read a meme or social media post. Jurors are not used to …

  Taylor Swift did not mince words when she testified in August against DJ David Mueller for allegedly groping her during a photo shoot. During her testimony, she took every opportunity to say Mr. Mueller “grabbed my ass,” artfully incorporating …

Originally pushed in the King County Bar Association Bar Bulletin, March 2017. Have you ever walked away from a meeting with a witness thinking, “She’s going to do just fine,” only to be dismayed when the person testifying is not …

Please forgive the brief moment of self promotion. We were honored to learn that Tsongas Litigation Consulting was recently recognized by the National Law Journal for National Top Honor for Jury Consulting in 2017. We would like to thank our …

Among the requests for demonstrative exhibits, timelines rank among the most frequent. This makes sense given that most of the stories attorneys tell are chronological. Timelines are a great tool for laying out the facts of a case in a …

Alternative facts seem to be getting in the way a lot these days. Sean Spicer’s representation that President Trump’s January 20 inauguration audience “…was the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe,” …

Joyce E. Tsongas, a pioneer in the field of jury consulting, passed away with her family by her side on January 15, 2017. Joyce paved the way for modern day trial consulting and will always be known as one of …

One part of our case strategy sessions involves creating an outline of the case narrative. We call this the Case Story, and it typically entails outlining topics that serve as the segments of your overall case presentation. When working with …

I “sort of” want you to stop saying that. No! I do want you to stop. Not kind of. Not sort of. I do want you to stop saying “sort of.” “Sort of” appears to have become the vocal filler …

Originally published in Defense News, Summer 2016 We recently had the pleasure of meeting with a group of female professionals at a roundtable luncheon to discuss the communication issues they felt were keeping them “good” communicators, not “great” communicators. They …

I have several “silly little tricks” that find their way into my witness preparation sessions. For example, when a witness answers outside the scope of the question, I simplify the solution with the example, “Do you know what time it …

Trial consultants have had a few minutes of fame in our profession’s relatively young history. The O.J. Simpson trial put trial consultants on the public’s radar. Among the media coverage of race, money, and fame, was the role of the …

Mock trials have many benefits. Attorneys hire jury consultants to conduct mock trials to learn (or confirm), among other things, the strengths and weaknesses of a case, the story jurors will adopt when deciding the case, and what questions jurors …

This weekend I witnessed the most brilliant compliance gaining strategy implemented by a fifth grade girl wanting her cohorts to engage in a game of Cranium. The other three in the group (one being the pesky little brother) had different …

The attorneys in the Boston Bombing trial have the daunting task of picking a fair and impartial jury in one of the most highly publicized crimes in our country’s recent history.  Is it possible to find a juror who has …

My son woke up this morning and said, “Yay! It’s Friday. Hashtag no homework for two days. Hashtag let the weekend begin.” (That’s a direct quote; he actually said the word “hashtag.”) Then my daughter chimed in, “Hashtag crush Lincoln.” …

For the last ten years I’ve been reassuring attorneys that they won’t look too “slick” if they use “fancy graphics.” Even before the iPhone generation, I’ve assured lawyers that technology and graphics that help jurors understand, remember, and later recall …

As trial consultants we strive to capitalize on the power of language by finding the right words and phrases that will help shape jurors’ understanding and recall of a case. Our goal is to find language that will activate frameworks …

Rushing through the C terminal of SeaTac Airport hoping to catch an earlier shuttle to Portland, I was pleased to see that every business and service around me attempted to accommodate my jet setter lifestyle. The Massage Bar enticed me …

Both. While this answer might seem obvious, new research explains why having both men and women in groups increases the collective intelligence of that group.  Anita Wolley and Thomas Malone studied group intelligence and found, “Little correlation between a group’s …

How can too much knowledge be a curse? Isn’t knowing more always better? Not when it interferes with your ability to teach what you’ve learned. The curse of knowledge is the idea that once you know something well, you have …

Sue, Apr/May 2009 Laura Dominic and Jill Schmid, Ph.D. discuss gender differences in the courtroom by exploring: –The masculine/feminine communication continuum –Nature versus nurture: The socialization of boys and girls –The impact of gender on decision making – stereotypes and …

The Jury Expert, September 2010 It’s 2010. Why are we even talking about gender and the practice of law? Haven’t we already “Come a long way, baby?” Hasn’t the powerful female lawyer portrayed on the myriad TV legal dramas sent …