Litigation is often local in nature. Isn it better to hire a local trial and jury consultant rather than a national company?
If you are going to trial in a remote area, this can be a legitimate issue. In small communities where everyone knows everyone else, the dynamics of jury selection and trial are very different than they are in large metropolitan or suburban communities. If primarily you want to find out local knowledge about the judges, jury pool, and general character of the venue, or if you are working in a small rural venue, local consultants may be a good choice. As a national company, however, we have conducted jury research and gone to trial in many smaller cities and rural areas. When we work in a jury selection in a small venue, we often bring in a local knowledgeable, such as local counsel or a pastor who has information about families in the community, to assist us in jury selection and to help us deepen our understanding of current community issues and attitudes. You therefore get the benefit of both local knowledge and national research breadth and skill. We have worked in jurisdictions in
