Early case assessment

This type of exercise is most useful very early in the litigation process. Its purpose is to provide the client with a very broad view of the general community sentiment regarding a specific case issue. It is often used to determine whether early resolution is beneficial or whether further discovery is likely to identify additional evidence and facts to support and strengthen the client’s position on the matter. It is much more narrow in scope and may be conducted utilizing fewer surrogate jurors than the traditional mock trial or focus group exercises.

Pros

• Utilizes fewer surrogate jurors resulting in considerable cost savings over a mock trial or focus group exercise
• Can be done very early in the litigation process and, if litigation continues, a mock trial or focus group exercise can be added later at a lower cost

Cons

• Due to the limited number of surrogate jurors, the early case assessment focus group does not allow for a jury profile or voir dire questions
• Less accurate than the other litigation research exercises due to the various unknown factors and the decreased amount of surrogate jurors utilized