Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips

TEN IDEAS FOR EFFECTIVE JURY SELECTION

March 18, 2026 Paul Luvera Comments 0 Comment

In the December 2024 issue of Trial Magazine, New Orleans trial lawyer Russ Herman wrote about tips for conducting meaningful and effective voir dire. Russ is one of the nation’s best trial lawyers and this very informative article I have summarized below: 1. Never Ignore a Juror Even if a prospective juror gives you a bad vibe, do not ignore them. Every juror matters. Overlooking someone risks alienating them and missing valuable insight. Engagement demonstrates respect—and respect builds credibility. 2….

UNDERSTANDING AND APPLYING THE PSYCHOLOGY OF JURY DECISIONS

February 25, 2026 Paul Luvera Comments 1 comment

UNDERSTANDING AND APPLYING THE PSYCHOLOGY OF JURY DECISIONS Trial lawyers need to understand the basic principles of psychology that are involved in jury decision-making. Professor Victoria Finkelstein, J.D. A member of the faculty at Willington University published an article about some of the basic psychological factors involved in our decision-making as human beings that are fundamental. Here are some examples we need to understand in our jury trials. Primacy Effect The first information people receive on an issue tends to…

ARBITRATION IS A DEFENSE WEAPON

February 4, 2026 Paul Luvera Comments 0 Comment

Why do businesses and corporations want arbitration and not trials? There are a number of reasons, which include some of the following: Lower damage awards No jury & arbitrators are statistically more conservative Elimination of class actions. Most arbitration clauses require individual claims & bar class or collective actions. This converts one systemic wrong → hundreds of small, uneconomic claims, avoiding massive exposure → scattered, manageable costs. Repeat-player advantage Corporations appear in arbitration repeatedly, are familiar to arbitration providers, and…