The Litigation Psychology Podcast - Episode 242 - Constructing the Plan for a High Profile Trial - Part 1

Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D. and Steve Wood, Ph.D. are joined by NYC trial attorney Tony Battista of Condon & Forsyth LLP in the first of a two-part discussion on trial techniques and details on a large aviation fatality case that they recently worked on together. Tony shares his background, talks about how he approaches highly complicated cases, and how he keeps a positive perspective when experiencing difficult days during trial. Tony describes how his team responds to an aviation accident at the time of the incident and what the legal team does to address the emotions of witnesses who are processing a highly tragic situation, including how they manage challenging depositions with these witnesses. Steve shares details behind the jury research conducted for this case and the group talks about the importance of testing and re-testing strategies, themes, concepts, and other ideas that the legal team have to ensure that research-support data are driving decisions and not individual team member biases. Tony, Bill, and Steve also discuss jury selection, the research-based juror profile they developed for voir dire and the importance of sticking with the data-supported profile even when it may seem counter-intuitive to some members of the legal team. Watch the video of this episode: https://www.courtroomsciences.com/r/FR3