DOCSLIB.ORG

Product Liability Practice Group

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Product Liability Practice Group DIRECTORY OF ATTORNEYS 2014 ® 5905 NW 54TH CIRCLE • CORAL SPRINGS, FL 33067 PHONE/FAX (800) 231-9110 www.uslaw.org ® USLAW Product Liability Practice Group MISSION STATEMENT The USLAW Network Product Liability Practice Group is a nationwide network of experienced product attorneys committed to pro- viding the highest quality legal services to effectively and efficiently achieve the goals of the clients we serve. We share a commitment to integrity and professionalism and are dedicated to finding creative and cost-effective solutions to the full range of product liability exposures so that the results we achieve exceed the expectations of our clients. WHY CHOOSE USLAW PRODUCT LIABILITY FIRMS? The lawyers within the Product Practice Group are product liabil- Utilizing the USLAW Product Liability Practice Group provides ity specialists and include leaders in our field who have lectured clients with nationwide access to highly experienced product lia- and written extensively on cutting edge topics and litigation tech- bility attorneys who share information and resources for the ben- niques. We provide a full range of litigation and counseling serv- efit of their clients. When you retain a USLAW Product Practice ices related to the full spectrum of product liability issues, from Group attorney, you are assured the highest level of quality repre- simple to complex and from traditional exposures to emerging sentation whatever, and wherever, your needs may be. Through trends. seminars, meetings and electronic networking, the members of the Product Practice Group communicate with one another to stay Our attorneys have successfully represented clients in thousands of abreast of technological advances and changes of law in all areas product liability matters across the country and throughout the relating to product liability. world. In addition to our vast experience with product liability tri- als and litigation, we advise our clients on matters relating to pre- We are trial lawyers, not just litigators. Our attorneys are skilled at litigation planning, litigation management, liability exposure, risk early case evaluation and are dedicated to finding creative and management, risk avoidance and risk transference. This can in- cost-effective solutions to complex issues and to look for alterna- clude working with clients on recall and/or retrofit campaigns, tive methods for dispute resolution when appropriate. We repre- warning labels, operator manuals, disclaimers, indemnity agree- sent regionally, nationally and internationally based ments and insurance coverage issues. manufacturers, distributors and retailers of all sizes. Clients from around the world rely upon us to get the job done. AREAS OF PRACTICE Our lawyers defend products of every sort, from consumer goods and automobiles to industrial machinery and high tech medical devices and everything in between. In addition, USLAW Product Liability Practice Group attorneys have represented clients in every major mass product li- ability and toxic tort litigation since the inception of Section 402A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, including asbestos, silica, breast im- plant, Dalkon Shield, Pedicle Screw, Fen/Phen, Redux and latex glove litigation, to name a few. Products defended by our members include: • Agricultural Equipment • Industrial Machinery • Alcohol and Distilled Spirits • Ladders • Aircraft (Private and Commercial) • Lawn Movers and Outdoor Power Equipment • Asbestos • Lifting Equipment • Automobiles • Locomotives and Locomotive Equipment • Beverage Containers • Medical Devices and Supplies • Boats and Ships (Commercial and Pleasure) • Mining Equipment • Breast Implants • Motorcycles and Recreational Vehicles • Building and Construction Equipment • Pharmaceuticals, Prescription Drugs and Over-the-Counter • Chemicals, Solvents and Plastics Medications • Construction, Products, Vehicles and Equipment • Power Tools • Consumer Products, Appliances, Equipment and Goods • Recreational Equipment • Cosmetics • Respiratory Protective Equipment and Safety Devices • Electrical Equipment and Devices • Roofing Systems • Electrical Wire and Cable • Scaffolding • Firearms • Swimming Pools • Fire Sprinklers and Fire Protection Devices • Tanks and Containers • Flooring Systems • Tires • Food Products • Toys and Children's Products • Furniture • Tobacco Products • Hand Tools • Trucks and Commercial Transportation • Herbicides and Pesticides • Windows ® About USLAW 2001. The Start of A Legal Network Not for Its litigation and trial experience. In addition, Something Better... Member Lawyers. Instead a Legal USLAW NETWORK members must Mega-firms...big, impersonal bastions of Network for Purchasers of Legal subscribe to a high level of service standards legal tradition, encumbered by bureaucracy Services. and are continuously evaluated to ensure these and often slow to react. The need for an al- USLAW NETWORK firms go way beyond standards of quality and expertise are met. ternative was obvious. A vision of a network providing quality legal services to their of smaller, regionally based, independent clients. Unlike other legal networks, USLAW USLAW in Review. firms with the capability to respond quickly, is organized around client expectations, not • All vetted firms with demonstrated, robust efficiently and economically to client needs around the member law firms. Clients practices and specialties from Atlantic City to Pacific Grove was born. receive ongoing educational opportunities, • Efficient use of legal budgets, providing In its infancy, it was little more than a possi- online resources including webinars, maximum return on legal services bility, discussed around a small table and jurisdictional updates, and resource investments dreamed about by a handful of visionaries. libraries. We also provide a semi-annual • Seamless, cross-jurisdictional service But the idea proved too good to leave on the USLAW Magazine, webinars, compendiums of • Responsive and flexible drawing board. Instead, with the support of law, as well as annual membership • Multitude of educational opportunities some of the country's brightest legal minds, directories and practice group directories. and online resources USLAW NETWORK became a reality. To ensure our goals are the same as the • Team approach to legal services clients our member firms serve, our 45-mem- Fast-forward to today. ber Client Leadership Council is directly in- The USLAW Success Story. The commitment remains the same as orig- volved in the development of our programs The reality of our success is simple: we inally envisioned. To provide the highest and services. This communication pipeline is succeed because our firms' clients succeed. quality legal representation and seamless vital to our success and allows us to better mon- Our member firms provide high-quality legal cross-jurisdictional service to major corpora- itor and meet client needs and expectations. results through the efficient use of legal tions, insurance carriers, and to both large budgets. We provide cross-jurisdictional and small businesses alike, through a USLAW Abroad. services eliminating the time and expense of network of professional, innovative law firms Just as legal issues seldom follow state bor- securing adequate representation in dedicated to their client's legal success. Now ders, they often extend beyond U.S. bound- different regions. We provide trusted and as a network with more than 6,000 attorneys aries as well. In 2007, USLAW established a experienced specialists quickly. from nearly 100 defense-based law firms, relationship with the Trans-European Law spanning the United States, Canada, Latin Firms Alliance (TELFA), a network of 25 When a difficult legal matter emerges – America, Europe, Asia and Africa, USLAW independent law firms representing more whether it’s in a single jurisdiction, nation- NETWORK remains a responsive, agile legal than 700 lawyers through Europe. wide or internationally – USLAW is there. alternative to the mega-firms. Subsequently, in 2010 we entered a similar Success. affiliation with the ALN (formerly the Africa Homefield Advantage. Legal Network) to further our service and For more information, please contact Roger USLAW NETWORK offers what it calls The reach. Additional, USLAW member firms M. Yaffe, USLAW CEO, at (800) 231-9110 or Homefield Advantage which comes from are located throughout Canada, Latin [email protected] knowing and understanding the venue in a America, and Asia. way that allows a competitive advantage – a truism in both sports and business. How is USLAW NETWORK Membership Determined. Jurisdictional awareness is a key ingredient Firms are admitted to the Network by invita- to successfully operating throughout the tion only and only after they are fully vetted United States and abroad. Knowing the local through a rigorous review process. Many rules, the judge, and the local business and firms have been reviewed over the years, but legal environment provides our firms’ clients only a small percentage were eventually this advantage. The strength and power of invited to join. The search for quality mem- ® an international presence combined with ber firms is a continuous and ongoing effort. the understanding of a respected local firm Firms admitted must possess broad commer- makes for a winning line-up. cial legal capabilities and have substantial ® About USLAW: Your Homefield Advantage Vancouver, BC .. BRAZIL Brossard,.. QC . Ottawa, ON . ..... .... ... .. .... ARGENTINA . ... .. ... ... .. .. .. .. .. SOUTH . AMERICA
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Impact of Trial Consultants on Perceptions of Procedural Justice and Juror Verdicts: an Empirical Investigation
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 2011 The Impact of Trial Consultants on Perceptions of Procedural Justice and Juror Verdicts: An Empirical Investigation Jennifer Burke Katz The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1949 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] THE IMPACT OF TRIAL CONSULTANTS ON PERCEPTIONS OF PROCEDURAL JUSTICE AND JUROR VERDICTS: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION by JENNIFER B. KATZ A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2011 Trial Consultants ii ©2011 JENNIFER BURKE KATZ All Rights Reserved Trial Consultants iii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Psychology in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Harold Goldstein__________________________________ _____________________ ________________________________________________ Date Chair of Examining Committee Maureen O’Connor________________________________ _____________________ ________________________________________________ Date Executive Officer Harold Goldstein_____________________________ Kristin Sommer______________________________ Charles Scherbaum____________________________ Supervisory Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK Trial Consultants iv Abstract THE IMPACT OF TRIAL CONSULTANTS ON PERCEPTIONS OF PROCEDURAL JUSTICE AND JUROR VERDICTS: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION by Jennifer B. Katz Adviser: Professor Harold Goldstein Despite the proliferation of the trial consulting industry in recent years, we know virtually nothing about the impact that the use of a trial consultant may have on a jury.
    [Show full text]
  • Jury Selection in Federal Court
    Resource ID: 1-613-5747 Jury Selection in Federal Court JONATHAN S. TAM, DECHERT LLP, WITH PRACTICAL LAW LITIGATION Search the Resource ID numbers in blue on Westlaw for more. This Practice Note addresses selecting a jury Exercising juror challenges (see Exercising Juror Challenges). in a federal civil case, including the applicable Conducting post-trial interviews (see Conducting Post-Trial Interviews). rules on picking a jury, the process and method for jury selection, researching prospective OVERVIEW OF THE JURY SELECTION PROCESS jurors and building juror profiles, conducting Although how a jury is selected varies among courts and judges, the voir dire, exercising peremptory challenges, process in federal court generally occurs in the following order: The court may first mail a preliminary, administrative questionnaire challenges for cause, and Batson challenges, to a randomly selected pool of prospective jurors from registered and interviewing jurors post-trial. voter or licensed driver lists to determine if these individuals appear qualified for federal jury service based on their age and ability to understand English (see Juror Qualifications). The prospect of a jury trial often keeps counsel and their clients The court mails summonses to an initial pool of randomly selected awake at night. Juries can be unpredictable, and jurors may have prospective jurors. The court then randomly selects a narrower preconceived ideas or biases that can escape counsel during the pool of prospective jurors from the initial pool, and calls them for a selection process. Some cases may be won or lost during jury specific case. selection, before opening statements or a single piece of evidence The judge presiding over the case determines whether any jurors is introduced.
    [Show full text]
  • Running Head: JURY DECISION MAKING RESEARCH 1
    Running head: JURY DECISION MAKING RESEARCH 1 Jury Decision Making Research: Are Researchers Focusing on the Mouse and Not the Elephant in the Room? Narina Nuñez & Sean M. McCrea Department of Psychology, University of Wyoming Scott E. Culhane Department of Criminal Justice, University of Wyoming Preprint of Nuñez, N., McCrea, S. M. and Culhane, S. E. (2011), Jury decision making research: Are researchers focusing on the mouse and not the elephant in the room?. Behav. Sci. Law, 29: 439–451. doi: 10.1002/bsl.967 Full version JURY DECISION MAKING RESEARCH 2 Abstract The concerns of jury research have extensively focused on subject selection, yet larger issues loom. We argue that observed differences between students vs. non-students in mock juror studies are inconsistent at best, and that researchers are ignoring the more important issue of jury deliberation. We contend that the lack of information on deliberating jurors and/or juries is a much greater threat to ecological validity and that some of our basic findings and conclusions in the literature today might be different if we had used juries, not non-deliberating jurors, as the unit of measure. Finally, we come full circle in our review and explore whether the debate about college and community samples might be more relevant to deliberating versus non-deliberating jurors. JURY DECISION MAKING RESEARCH 3 Jury Decision Making Research: Are Researchers Focusing on the Mouse and Not the Elephant in the Room? The tension between experimental control and ecological validity is present in many applied psychological research endeavors but is probably crucial in jury decision making studies.
    [Show full text]
  • In Real Jury Deliberations: Successes, Failures, and Next Steps†
    Copyright 2012 by Northwestern University School of Law Printed in U.S.A. Northwestern University Law Review Vol. 106, No. 4 Articles THE “KETTLEFUL OF LAW” IN REAL JURY DELIBERATIONS: SUCCESSES, FAILURES, AND NEXT STEPS† Shari Seidman Diamond, Beth Murphy & Mary R. Rose ABSTRACT—According to standard lore, when jurors are doused with “a kettleful of law” at the end of a trial, they either ignore it or are hopelessly confused. We present new evidence from a unique data set: not mock jury experiments or post-trial self-reports, but rather the deliberations of fifty real civil juries. Our intensive analysis of these deliberations presents a picture that contradicts received wisdom about juries and the law. We show that juries in typical civil cases pay substantial attention to the instructions and that although they struggle, the juries develop a reasonable grasp of most of the law they are asked to apply. When instructions fail, they do so primarily in ways that are generally ignored in the debate about juries and the law. That is, the jury deliberations reveal that when communication breaks down, the breakdown stems from more fundamental sources than simply opaque legal language. We identify a few modest pockets of juror resistance to the law and suggest why jury commonsense may in some instances be preferable to announced legal standards. We conclude that it will take more than a “plain English” movement to achieve genuine harmony between laypersons and jury instructions on the law. AUTHORS—Shari Seidman Diamond is the Howard J. Trienens Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University School of Law and a Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation.
    [Show full text]
  • DECLARATION of BRYAN EDELMAN, Ph.D. I, Bryan Edelman, Solemnly, Sincerely and Truly Declare and Affirm As Follows: I
    27-CR-20-12646 Filed in District Court State of Minnesota 3/18/2021 5:27 PM DECLARATION OF BRYAN EDELMAN, Ph.D. I, Bryan Edelman, solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm as follows: I. INTRODUCTION I am the co-founder of Trial Innovations, Inc., a national full-service jury research firm. I have worked as a trial consultant for 20 years and have conducted pretrial and post-trial research on both criminal and civil cases across the country. In addition, I have been retained as an expert in over 40 high-profile cases to assess the impact of pretrial publicity on the fairness of the trial proceedings. Counsel for the defendant in State of Minnesota v. Alex Kueng retained me to evaluate the extent and nature of the pretrial publicity covering the death of George Floyd and its potential impact on Mr. Kueng’s due process rights. As part of my analysis, I reviewed relevant newspaper coverage, television publicity, and social media content. It is my opinion that the jury pool in Hennepin County has been saturated with extensive prejudicial news coverage. The pretrial publicity incorporates powerful and emotional language surrounding the death of George Floyd, minute-by-minute accounts of how the tragic incident unfolded, shocking video footage of the encounter, and details from pretrial filings (e.g., autopsy reports). The coverage references prejudicial statements from prominent public figures. For example, the Chief of Police described the incident as “murder.” These types of statements have the capacity to undermine the burden of proof by creating a presumption of guilt within members of the jury pool.
    [Show full text]
  • The Voir Dire Examination, Juror Challenges, and Adt/Ersary Advocacy
    If you have issues viewing or accessing this file, please contact us at NCJRS.gov. The Voir Dire Examination, Juror Challenges, and Adt/ersary Advocacy Federal Judicial Center THE FEDERAL JUDICIAL CENTER Board The Chief Justice of the United States Chairmon Judge RU9gero J. Aldisert Judge Frank J. McGarr United States Court of Appeals United States District Court for the Third Circuit Northern District of fllinois Judge Robert H. Schnacke Judge Aubrey E. Robinson, Jr. United States District Court United States District Court Northern District of California District of Columbia Judge John C. Godbold William E. Foley United States Court of Appeals Director of the Administrative for the Fifth Circuit Office of the United States Courts Director A. Leo Levin Deputy Director Joseph L. Ebersole Oillision Directors Kenneth C. Crawford William 8. Eldridge Continuing .Education Research and Training Charles W. Nihan Alice L. O'Donnell Innovations Inter-Judicial Affairs and Systems Development and Informotion Services 1520 H Street, N.W. T_'Washington, D.C....... 20005 11 I , I i ! J NCJRS NOV 20\978 .J ACQUJS}l'IOf~S ...~ THE VOIR DIRE E~AMINATION, JUROR CHALLENGES, AND ADVERSARY ADVOCACY ny Gordon Bermant and John Shapard Federal Judicial Center November, 1978 FJC-R-78-6 TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE vii INTRODUCTION 1 PROBLEMS OF INTERESTS .3 PROBLEMS OF CRITERI~ . 5 Argument 1: The Venire Is Initially Biased for Conviction . 5 Argument 2: The Adversary System Produces an Impartial Jury 8 Conclusion • 10 PROBLEMS OF P~RAMETERS 12 Functions of the Voir Dire Examinati0n: The probative function . • • . 14 The didactic function • . • . • . • . 16 Probative and didactic functions from a policy perspective: The issue of oral participation by lawyers 117 Dimensions of the Challenge Process • .
    [Show full text]
  • The Impossible Dream Come True
    Brooklyn Law School BrooklynWorks Faculty Scholarship 2002 The mpI ossible Dream Come True: A Criminal Law Professor Becomes Juror #7 Stacy Caplow Brooklyn Law School, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/faculty Part of the Courts Commons, Criminal Law Commons, Criminal Procedure Commons, and the Other Law Commons Recommended Citation 67 Brook. L. Rev. 785 (2001-2002) This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by BrooklynWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of BrooklynWorks. ESSAYS THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM COMES TRUE- A CRIMINAL LAW PROFESSOR BECOMES JUROR # 7* Stacy Caplow* INTRODUCTION When it first arrived, the jury summons to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York felt like a joke. With my resume, set forth in detail below, each entry of which arguably provides a basis for a peremptory challenge, what remotely sensible or competent lawyer would ever want me as a juror, particularly on a criminal case? The joke quickly transformed into an exciting long shot, an improbable opportunity. Now that the elimination of professional exemptions for jury service' allows for routine participation on New York * @2002 Stacy Caplow. All Rights Reserved. t Professor of Law and Director of Clinical Education, Brooklyn Law School. With appreciation to Brooklyn Law School's Summer Research Stipend Program and gratitude to Gene Cerruti, and my "buddies" Susan Herman, Nan Hunter, Minna Kotkin, and Liz Schneider. I also would like to thank the lead prosecutor and the defense attorney for speaking with me so frankly and graciously after the trial, and, most of all, for not bumping me from the jury.
    [Show full text]
  • Federal Rule of Evidence 606(B) and the Constitutional Right to a Fair Trial
    SMU Law Review Volume 38 Issue 5 Article 3 1984 Challenge to the Decisionmaking Process - Federal Rule of Evidence 606(b) and the Constitutional Right to a Fair Trial Peter N. Thompson Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.smu.edu/smulr Recommended Citation Peter N. Thompson, Challenge to the Decisionmaking Process - Federal Rule of Evidence 606(b) and the Constitutional Right to a Fair Trial, 38 SW L.J. 1187 (1984) https://scholar.smu.edu/smulr/vol38/iss5/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at SMU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in SMU Law Review by an authorized administrator of SMU Scholar. For more information, please visit http://digitalrepository.smu.edu. CHALLENGE TO THE DECISIONMAKING PROCESS-FEDERAL RULE OF EVIDENCE606(b) AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL by Peter N. Thompson * INCE Lord Mansfield's day courts have jealously guarded the secrecy of jury deliberations by a competency rule limiting juror testimony on post-trial motions for new trial. Although courts cite the interest in juror privacy--encouraging free and robust debate and avoiding juror har- assment-as justification for the rule, the primary concern is to ensure the finality of jury verdicts. Recent studies,I as well as published opinions, doc- ument the obvious, that lay jurors frequently discuss improper matters in the jury room and base their decisions in part on improper considerations. Thus, too close a look at jury deliberations will reveal improprieties in a large number of cases, damaging the finality and public acceptance of jury verdicts.
    [Show full text]
  • Jury Trial Innovations Second Edition
    Jury Trial Innovations Second Edition G. Thomas Munsterman, Paula L. Hannaford-Agor, and G. Marc Whitehead, editors i ©1997-2006 National Center for State Courts Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 97-65255 ISBN 0-089656-257-3 Second Printing March 1998 Third Printing December 2000 Fourth Printing, Second Edition, 2006 This report was originally developed by the National Center for State Courts under a grant from the State Justice Institute (No. SJI-93-12K-B-263). The points of view expressed do not necessarily represent the offi cial position or policies of the National Center for State Courts, the American Bar Association, or the State Justice Institute. ii Jury Trial Innovations Advisory Committee to the First Edition Hon. Richard M. Bilby (deceased) U.S. District Court, District of Arizona Tucson, Arizona Hon. B. Michael Dann (ret.) Williamsburg, Virginia Prof. Shari Diamond American Bar Foundation Northwestern University School of Law Chicago, Illinois Curtis E. von Kann, Esq. Ross, Dixon & Masback, L.L.P. Washington, D.C. Prof. Stephen Landsman De Paul University College of Law Chicago, Illinois Prof. R. Hanson Lawton South Texas School of Law Friendswood, Texas Hon. Howard McKibben U.S. District Court, District of Nevada Reno, Nevada Hon. H. Lee Sarokin (ret.) U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit Newark, New Jersey iii Table of Contents Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................1 Contributors to the First Edition ............................................................................................2
    [Show full text]
  • Anew Framework for Analyzing Gag Orders Against Trial Witnesses
    SMYTH.BOOK6.DOC 4/5/2004 10:40 AM A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYZING GAG ORDERS AGAINST TRIAL WITNESSES David D. Smyth III** TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 82 II. BACKGROUND............................................................................... 86 A. Supreme Court Treatment of Media Coverage of Judicial Proceedings ........................................................................... 86 B. Lower Court Treatment of Gag Orders on Trial Participants............................................................................ 88 1. Trial Participants Other Than Witnesses ........................... 88 2. Witnesses ....................................................................... 90 C. Different Standards That Have Been Applied to Gag Orders.................................................................................... 91 III. SHEPPARD V. MAXWELL AND ITS HOLLOW DICTA ........................... 93 IV. TRIAL COURTS DO NOT HAVE AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE GAG ORDERS ON TRIAL WITNESSES .................................................... 100 A. A Trial Court’s Inherent Authority is Powerful but Narrow and Does Not Encompass Gag Orders on Witnesses............. 101 B. Trial Witnesses Do Not Carry the Same Obligations to the Courts as Do Attorneys ........................................................ 104 C. In Criminal Cases, the Sixth Amendment Right to a Fair Trial Cannot Legitimately Trigger an Abridgement of a Private Individual's First Amendment Rights
    [Show full text]
  • Controlling the Civil Jury: Towards a Functional Model of Justification Pamela J
    Kentucky Law Journal Volume 76 | Issue 1 Article 4 1987 Controlling the Civil Jury: Towards a Functional Model of Justification Pamela J. Stephens Vermont Law School Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/klj Part of the Civil Procedure Commons Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits you. Recommended Citation Stephens, Pamela J. (1987) "Controlling the Civil Jury: Towards a Functional Model of Justification," Kentucky Law Journal: Vol. 76 : Iss. 1 , Article 4. Available at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/klj/vol76/iss1/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Kentucky Law Journal by an authorized editor of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Controlling the Civil Jury: Towards a Functional Model of Justification By PAmLA J. STEPHENS* Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ......................................... 82 1. DEVELOPMENT OF THE CIVIL JURY AND EARLY AT- TEMPTS AT CONTROL ................................ 84 A. Early History ............................. 84 1. English .............................. 84 2. American ............................ 86 B. Nineteenth Century Development............ 88 C. Right to Jury Trial ........................ 92 II. MODERN IMPLEMENTATION BY PROCEDURAL DEVICES 95 A. Special Verdicts ........................... 95 1. H istory .............................. 95 2. The Federal Rule ..................... 103 a. Evidentiary Versus Ultimate Facts.. 104 b. The Omnibus Question ............ 105 c. Jury Unanimity .................. 106 d. Material Issue Not Covered by Questions ........................ 106 e. Informing the Jury of the Conse- quences of its Answers ............ 107 3. Rule 49 in the Courts ................. 108 4. Constitutionality of Special Verdicts ...
    [Show full text]
  • Focus Groups in Litigation Research
    Uses of Focus Groups in Litigation Research Authors Jill Holmquist, J.D. Forensic Anthropology, Inc 645 M Street, Suite 105 Lincoln, NE 68508 (402) 477-4124 Richard A. Jenson, M.S. Jenson Research and Communications Building K, Unit 3A 5524 Bee Cave Road Austin, TX 78746 (512) 476-7797 Martin Q. Peterson, Ph.D. Forensic Anthropology, Inc 645 M Street, Suite 105 Lincoln, NE 68508 (402) 477-4124 Uses of Focus Groups in Litigation Research By Jill Peterson Holmquist, J.D., Richard Jenson and Martin Q. Peterson, Ph.D. Although focus groups have wide application to an attorney’s practice, it seems many attorneys lack familiarity with focus groups and their uses. People who know of them often think of the marketing field, where they are widely used for services ranging from taste testing to testing a new packaging design. Yet just what purpose they serve remains a little uncertain to most attorneys. A definition from an academic marketing researcher, Dr. Richard A. Krueger, describes them in terms of six characteristics: “(1) people, (2) assembled in a series of groups, (3) possess[ing] certain characteristics, … (4) provide data (5) of a qualitative nature (6) in a focused discussion.”1 A broader definition given by a professional marketing researcher, Dr. Jane Templeton, describes a focus group as “a small, temporary community, formed for the purpose of the collaborative enterprise of discovery.”2 This definition, loosely construed, describes a jury quite well.3 The focus groups we describe can also be referred to as “simulated juries,” whether they are convened to sit as a jury for a mock trial or for an informal discussion group.
    [Show full text]