Trial Science
I had the good fortune of being in the right place at the right time. The right place meant I had just completed a temporary assignment and was unemployed. The time was January, 1994. I had spent fifteen years working in a hospital pharmacy and decided to change careers. After completing my legal assistant classes, my experience in the legal field amounted to two long-term temporary assignments. Because of my inexperience, I had no preconceived idea of what area of law I wanted to work in or the range of job opportunities available. What first appeared to be just another temporary assignment blossomed into one of the most fascinating jobs I have held.
I am a case manager at The Wilmington Institute. The Institute is a research think tank comprised of lawyers, psychologists and social scientists. We assist the finest attorneys in the country and their client corporations prepare for mediation arbitration or trial. While the majority of our cases involve civil matters, the Institute is often consulted on important criminal cases such as the Susan Smith case and the Selena case. The Institute offers over twenty-five different services to our clients, and I act as a liaison between the client and the Institute.
Most of our clients are excellent attorneys who have distinguished themselves in courtrooms throughout the nation. These attorneys call on us at different stages in their case preparation. Some call us even before they accept the case and others contact us the week before their court date. Each case must be managed individually based on services and time parameters. Once a case is accepted, we monitor it through trial or mediation and sometimes even the appeal process.
After a conflicts check is conducted and a new case is accepted, my first step is to procure basic case materials so that our staff can become with familiar with the litigation. Consultations with the attorneys help guide decisions about which services would be most valuable for this case and together, we choose dates convenient for all those involved. Since we maintain private courtrooms in both Houston and Dallas, and travel internationally, all events are maintained on a computerized calendar.
Each case manager maintains a data base of her cases. This database contains all pertinent information about assignments, dates, opposing counsel and legal technology requirements. The individual lists are combined into a report and all case managers review each case weekly.
One of our more exciting functions is the jury study. This research activity requires advance preparation by the attorneys and their staff. The attorney or legal assistant is contacted to review the documents and information needed to conduct the study. We request a one or two page unbiased narrative of the facts of the case, a set of simulated jury questions, and a list of demonstrative evidence to be used in the research. We encourage the balanced presentation of charts and graphs, video depositions and other demonstrative evidence during the jury study. In the weeks before the research study, I meet with our jury recruiter to discuss location, demographics of the jurors, and the venue we are working in. The technology team receives advance notification of the type of service, number of jurors, and any special trial team needs such as the DOAR visual presenter system or an overhead projector. I coordinate with the technology team so they can meet with the attorney before the study, if time allows, to advise them on demonstrative evidence to be used in the research. After the study, recommendations are made for technology assistance at trial based on what was gleaned from the jury study.
The final days before the study are quite busy with last minute preparations and reams of paperwork! Our goal is not for our client to "win the jury study", but to learn from it. Even with extensive preparation, we try to remain flexible to adjust to the last minute needs of the client.
The day of the study, I become a stage manager and coordinate everything from checking in the jurors to verifying lunch orders to conferencing with the attorneys. I am responsible for assuring our program proceeds as scheduled and as effortlessly as possible. Of course, this is a team effort and our support staff helps tremendously through their preparation and anticipation of problems.
If the research study is not held in our Dallas or Houston courtrooms, additional considerations arise. There is the complication of packing, traveling and set-up / break down of the presentation and deliberations rooms in another facility. I have become familiar with connecting microphones, cables and rearranging tables to suit our client's needs. Our technology staff even "allows" me to unwind and tape down the audio / video cables.
After each jury study, we compile a detailed report for the clients summarizing what we learned from the research data. I am responsible for ordering notebooks, assembling the appendices, and collecting the components of the report. After the first draft is complete, I organize a series of proof-readers. As the report approaches it's final stages, I assemble the report components into the notebook and forward a copy to the client.
We offer many other services such as preparation of a supplemental juror questionnaire and review of the questionnaires after completion by the venire panel. These services are also time and labor intensive. I contact the attorney's assistant to find out when the questionnaires will be completed by the jurors, copied, and available for review. Sometimes this requires sending someone to the airport to pick them up or standing by the fax machine for receipt of the questionnaires. Scheduling a trial scientist to review the questionnaires and attend voir dire usually follows.
More recently, I have become involved in The Institute's research projects. I have spent time on Lexis, Compuserve, in the law libraries and reviewing books, magazines and newspapers for articles pertaining to a particular case or subject matter.
In addition to my usual case manager duties, I oversee the management of the case files kept both at the Institute and at our off-site storage area. Reports generated from our case databases must be kept up-to-date and due to our extensive caseload, files must be managed effectively to prevent overcrowding.
I had no idea that this short term assignment would evolve into many enviable opportunities to work with some of the finest legal minds in the country. It's difficult to accurately describe a job that changes continuously, based on current trends in litigation and the particular needs of the Institute. The constant is that this is the most exciting, stimulating, and challenging position I have ever held.
Cindy Welch, a native of Canton, Ohio, holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Dallas. She has worked in the legal field five years and is a member of LAD, DALA and the Project Management Institute.
TEXAS PARALEGAL JOURNAL
Winter 1996
©1996 Legal Assistants Division, State Bar of Texas