Why jurors assess big damages

• Author: Jim Wren/Laura Brown
• Pages: 33-54

WHY JURORS

ASSESS BIG DAMAGES

1-1

CHAPTER 1

WHY JURORS

ASSESS BIG DAMAGES

I. IT ALL STARTS WITH CREDIBILITY

§1:01 Credibility Is Vital When Damages Are Ambiguous

§1:02 Credibility Feeds the Emotional Need of Jurors for Safety and Signif‌icance

§1:03 Credibility Requires Finding the Emotional Truth of Your Damages Case

§1:04 Find the Emotional Truth of Your Damages Case Through Personal Involvement

II. JURORS CRAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT AND SIGNIFICANT

§1:10 A Sense of Signif‌icance Motivates

§1:11 Sympathy Does Not Motivate

§1:12 Anger Motivates, But Only If Used Correctly

§1:13 Jurors Understand and Protect Positive Values, But Negative Values Are Confusing

§1:14 Family and Safety Systems May Be the Most Important Positive Value

§1:15 Help Jurors Understand They Speak for the Community

§1:16 Use a Case Theme to Communicate the Moral Signif‌icance of the Case

III. JURORS RESPOND TO EVIDENCE OF CONSCIOUSLY BAD VIOLATIONS

§1:20 Finding Consciously Bad Violations in Negligence Cases

§1:21 The Information Needed to Expose Consciously Bad Violations

§1:22 Articulating the Rules to Help Jurors Recognize Consciously Bad Violations

§1:23 Using Conscious Violations to Build Anger as a Motivation for Damages

§1:24 Reinforcing the Theme by Showing Why Each Standard Really Matters

IV. JURORS MAY CARE MORE ABOUT THE RESPONSE TO INJURY THAN THE INJURY ITSELF

§1:30 Jurors Care About Motives and Choices

§1:31 Jurors Want to Be Part of the Story

§1:32 Post-Injury Acts and Omissions of the Defendant Are Usually Waiting to Be Tapped

§1:33 Jurors Identify More With Overcomers Than With Victims

§1:34 Prepare to Articulate the Relevance of Post-Occurrence Conduct

V. JURORS WANT YOUR GUIDANCE, IF YOU RESPECT THEIR RIGHT TO DECIDE

§1:40 Jurors Respond to Priming (Intentional or Inadvertent) Like Everyone Else

§1:41 Using the Total Damages Number as Its Own Anchor

§1:42 Using a Number From Outside the Case as the Anchor for Damages

§1:43 Jurors Need Guidance to Justify the Amount of Damages

§1:44 Why Are You Suggesting This Specif‌ic Number?

VI. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

§1:50 This Book Is Dedicated to the Coherent Approach to Proving Damages

WHY JURORS

ASSESS BIG DAMAGES

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