Jeff Dougherty

Another component of our business is in legal opinion based research.  Much like we partner with Marie Mound for her expertise with focus groups and other similar market opinion research, we also work with an expert in this legal area: Jeff Dougherty.

Jeff’s Specialties

Jeff has worked as a trial consultant on high stakes civil litigation since 2002. As a trial consultant, he has seen the disastrous consequences of parties to a lawsuit going to trial without first testing in front of a group of mock jurors similar in makeup to the anticipated jury.

He believes that just as a product developer would never launch its product into the marketplace before performing market research and product testing, a party to a lawsuit should never “launch” their case to the jury without doing the same. When it comes to trial, “market testing” is done in the form of focus groups and mock trials.

But, not all focus groups and mock trials are created equally. This is where Jeff’s training and experience come into play. His post-graduate work in clinical and research psychology and his graduate studies in litigation consulting taught him how to conduct small group research that is scientifically sound with respect to validity and reliability. The problem for the unsuspecting client is that a focus group designed by someone without the right training might look and run smoothly, but something fundamental about the design could be amiss and the client will never know the difference until it’s too late.  

Custom Designed for Each Client

Jeff’s vast experience in designing and executing focus groups and mock trials over the years has given him the ability and insight to design small group research tailor-made to each individual piece of litigation. Because the needs of every case differ, not all pre-trial research looks the same. Sometimes it might take the form of a half-day focus group designed to test mock jurors’ assessment of one or two key witnesses or potential trial themes. Other times it can take the form adversarial case summaries and mock juror deliberations.  Yet other times it might be a multiple-day mock trial containing opening statements direct- and cross-examination of live witnesses, closing arguments and mock juror deliberations. Jeff’s pre-trial research philosophy is that the research design always depends on the needs of the client.

In addition to pre-trial jury research, Jeff is also skilled at designing voir dire questions, assisting with jury selection, conducting shadow juries, preparing witnesses to testify in depositions and on the witness stand and conducting post-trial juror interviews.

For more detail about Jeff’s areas of expertise, see: www.LitigationIQ.com

For “Advice from a Trial Consultant” see Jeff’s Blog: https://www.litigationiq.com/blog/