Purpose:

Prolumina’s litigation consultants can provide an objective, third-party assessment of your case and the identifiable, as well as the potential risks associated with impending litigation. In doing so, our consultants consider the strengths and weaknesses of the facts of the case, the trial venue, information processing preferences, small group decision-making dynamics, and any cultural, demographic, historical, psychological, or other anticipated variables that may impact your case. All recommendations are based on empirical research and our many years of personal and professional experience.

Litigation Risk Assessments are useful at any stage in litigation. Early in discovery, an LRA will provide guidance on how to allocate resources and what to expect in terms of time and costs.   In the later stages of discovery and before trial, you will get a sense of how jurors may process what they see and hear in the courtroom, and while not specifically predictive of the verdict, the LRA will inform a reasonable expectation as to the verdict and/or damages.

Method and Work Product:

The LRA is a large panel study, with an optional mock jury component. The panel is presented with the case. Then they are instructed and fill out extensive questionnaires, including the verdict form. The verdict form is statistically analyzed to provide confidence intervals for damage awards. Confidence intervals provide the “high-low” range of damage awards that individual jurors would award within a stated level of probability.

The statistical range of these high-low predictions is directly related to sample size; larger sample sizes produce narrower and more precise high-low ranges. This methodology also requires careful attention to the “representativeness” of the research participants and the case presentations.

The analysis and report is initially restricted to the verdict form data. The cost of additional analysis is deferred until the decision is made to proceed to trial. We will then analyze other questionnaire data and any mock jury data that was collected to help the trial team prepare its trial strategy, including:

• Analysis of the issues and factors that resonated with jurors and influenced their decisions
• The strengths and weaknesses for both sides
• The persuasive impact of witnesses
• The persuasive impact of exhibits, demonstrative evidence, and presentation technologies