Why Conduct a Mock Trial?
For many years, the advertising industry has used focus groups to determine how a marketing program would be received before launching an expensive sales campaign. Mock trials provide attorneys an opportunity to “test the market” before taking a case to trial. For the overwhelming majority of trial lawyers, the first time they have substantial insight into how a jury will view the case is when the verdict is read. At that point, it is too late to “fix what is broken.” Mock trials provide trial attorneys with critical information about how potential jurors view their case. Several years ago, a law firm conducted four mock trials in an insurance bad faith case where the insurance company refused to pay benefits on the ground the doctor made misrepresentations on his application. The insurance company’s broker advised the doctor how to complete the application and knew the information the doctor provided was not accurate. The broker explained that if the doctor did not misrepresent certai
