When you picture a courtroom, you probably see a judge, a jury, the attorneys, and the parties involved. But in high-stakes personal injury cases, there may also be someone behind the curtain significantly shaping the course of the case: a jury consultant.
Jury consultants don’t sit at the counsel’s table, and you won’t hear their names in opening arguments, but their work can significantly influence the outcome of a trial.
What does a jury consultant actually do?
A jury consultant is a professional hired to help attorneys select and persuade jurors in a case. Their role typically includes:
- Assisting with jury selection (voir dire): Voir dire is like the Super Bowl for jury consultants. They prepare juror questionnaires, analyze potential jurors’ responses, and watch for subtle signs of bias. Because attorneys have only a limited number of peremptory challenges, a consultant helps them use those strikes strategically.
Peremptory challenges are a jury selection tool that allows attorneys to dismiss potential jurors without needing to state a reason.
- Pretrial research: Depending on the case, consultants may conduct community surveys, focus groups, or even full mock trials. For example, in a wrongful death case, a consultant might run a mock trial with 30–40 participants drawn from the same county as the real jury pool. The results can show which arguments resonate and which may fall flat.
- In-trial monitoring: Some consultants actually observe jurors during the trial, watching body language, note-taking, or even who eats lunch with whom—signs of alliances that could affect deliberations.
- Witness preparation: Jury consultants often coach expert witnesses to make their testimony clearer and more relatable to jurors. This might include practicing with visual aids, refining language, or role-playing cross-examination.
The first known use of jury consultants was in 1972, when Catholic priests Daniel and Philip Berrigan were tried for conspiracy related to Vietnam War protests. Their defense team hired consultants who surveyed local residents and concluded that blue-collar workers and non-fundamentalist Protestants would be most sympathetic. The resulting jury deadlocked 10–2 in favor of acquittal, and the government declined to retry the case.
What is the background of a jury consultant?
Jury consulting isn’t a profession with a single career path, and there’s no official license or certification required.
Instead, most consultants come from fields that focus on human behavior and communication. Common educational backgrounds include psychology, sociology, communications, political science, or law. Some hold advanced degrees (master’s or doctorates) in psychology or social sciences, while others are former attorneys who’ve shifted into trial strategy.
There are no university degrees specifically in “jury consulting,” but many consultants pursue coursework in behavioral research, statistics, group dynamics, or persuasion that equips them for the role. Professional organizations—like the American Society of Trial Consultants—offer training and resources.
Because the field is largely unregulated, methods can vary. Some consultants are highly data-driven, using surveys, mock trials, and statistical models, while others lean more on intuition, observation, and experience.
Successful jury consultants tend to share certain traits:
- Strong analytical skills for interpreting data and identifying patterns.
- Sharp observational skills, especially when reading juror behavior and body language.
- The ability to communicate complex ideas simply, both to lawyers and witnesses.
- A mix of objectivity and intuition, balancing hard data with human insight.
In terms of employment, some consultants work independently as solo practitioners, while others are part of consulting firms that specialize in trial services. Larger firms may employ teams of consultants with expertise in psychology, statistics, communications, and even visual design to support trial presentations.
Interested in pursuing a law degree? Visit the Enjuris Student Center for helpful resources, interviews, and more.
Advantages and disadvantages of using a jury consultant
Hiring a jury consultant can give attorneys a significant edge in the courtroom. By using tools like surveys, focus groups, and mock trials, consultants help uncover hidden biases among jurors.
Beyond jury selection, consultants can provide data-driven insight into how jurors are likely to view arguments, which can be especially valuable in cases involving complex medical or technical evidence.
What’s more, consultants can give trial teams a stronger negotiating position during settlement talks by grounding discussions in mock jury results.
But the advantages come with tradeoffs. The biggest barrier is cost. Jury consultants typically charge hundreds of dollars per hour, and full engagement in a high-profile case can run into six figures. This means consultants are often accessible only to wealthy clients, corporations, or celebrities—or in cases in which a lot of money is at stake.
There’s also a matter of perception to consider. The use of jury consultants sometimes fuels the belief that favorable verdicts can be “bought” if you can afford the right team. And even with the best research and preparation, jury consulting is not foolproof. Jurors are human beings, and their decisions can be unpredictable.
Will a jury consultant be used in my case?
For most personal injury lawsuits, the answer is no—jury consultants are rarely involved. They are typically reserved for cases where the financial stakes, media attention, or complexity of the evidence make impartial jury selection especially challenging.
Some common examples of cases in which jury consultants are used include:
- Celebrity defendants who spark strong public opinions, making it difficult to seat an unbiased jury.
- Corporate defendants facing lawsuits worth millions of dollars in damages.
- Cases with complex evidence, such as medical malpractice or intellectual property disputes, where expert testimony needs to be presented clearly and persuasively.
In smaller cases—like a car accident claim against another driver—it usually doesn’t make sense to bring in a consultant. In those situations, your attorney is far more likely to rely on their own courtroom experience, intuition, and knowledge of the local jury pool.
The future of jury consultants
The field is shifting toward big data and technology. Instead of relying only on gut instinct, modern consultants conduct community attitude surveys, scrape publicly available information (including social media), and run sophisticated mock trials with statistically significant sample sizes.
Still, the law is catching up. Courts continue to debate how much attorneys and witnesses can disclose about their work with consultants. For example, one federal court allowed questions about whether a witness worked with a consultant and how long they met, but limited deeper probing to protect attorney work-product.
Going forward, jury consultants will likely remain most common in cases with the highest stakes—while also becoming more data-driven and more regulated.
While jury consultants can be enormously valuable in the right case, they’re expensive, unregulated, and not available to every client. For most accident victims, the best investment is finding an experienced attorney who can tell your story clearly and persuasively.
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