Types of Focus Groups and Their Purpose

Focus groups are valuable tools in trial law for learning how citizens in a particular venue perceive a civil lawsuit. They provide valuable information on the strengths and weaknesses of arguments presented by the Plaintiff’s and Defendant’s perspectives, perceptions of liability, and range of awards. Traditional focus groups provide qualitative (descriptive) and quantitative (predictive) models and are widely used among trial lawyers. However, advances in market research methodologies and data analytic tools have changed the way trial consultants approach focus groups. 

Focus groups can take many forms. A traditional format is a group of 6-12 people who meet face-to-face in a conference room to discuss a case’s facts and evidence. However, social distancing requirements from the COVID-19 pandemic prevent conducting traditional focus groups. Online paid focus groups offer an alternative that may better serve specific goals and can be performed “live” and synchronously on platforms such as the typical video conference apps used today. Online focus groups can also be conducted asynchronously in a dedicated chat room or threaded discussion format. Below, we review different focus groups depending on your goals and how the delivery of the group interaction (online, face-to-face, asynchronous) can affect data quality. 

Goals of Focus Groups

Goal: Exploration

In the discovery phase of a case, focus groups in the Las Vegas Field can help explore key themes and biases that will come up in the trial. Focus groups with an exploratory goal can help identify the most impactful themes and language. As participants learn the story, they share their attitudes, feelings, and beliefs about the case. 

The exploratory focus group in Las Vegas can also help identify what types of evidence are necessary to convince jurors. Participants can identify gaps in the evidence or story and suggest what information is needed to persuade them in your favor. 

Finally, exploratory focus groups can help identify how jurors react to your witnesses and perceive your client. 

Goal: Constructing Your Case Presentation, Arguments, and Evidence

Suppose you have a strong idea of the themes, biases, and compelling evidence for your case. In that case, you can experimentally test your case presentation, including the language used in your arguments and the best order to present your evidence. 

Focus Group Facilities participants can critique evidence and discuss what is most influential and what is needed to change their minds. An experimental approach allows you to test your weakest and strongest arguments and your opposition’s arguments. 

Goal: Find the Ideal Juror Profile

If your goal is to identify the ideal “type” of juror for your case, a different approach to focus groups is needed. Online questionnaires with a representative sample of community members allow you to gather personality and background information and then determine how this profile predicts potential jurors’ judgments of liability and damages. 

Types of Focus Groups

Concept Focus Groups

Concept focus groups encourage participants to brainstorm and discuss the evidence. They have an exploratory goal of helping identify key themes for the trial. This type of focus group is best conducted during the discovery phase of trial preparation. Participants share their attitudes, feelings, and beliefs about the case and, therefore, serve as a “community thermometer” to determine what issues will surface in the trial, what biases may be important, and how to handle them. 

Structured Focus Groups

Once the key themes, arguments, and evidence have been identified, a structured focus group is used after the exploratory phase. In a structured focus group, questions and order are determined beforehand, and participants discuss and debate the case evidence in that order. This type of focus group is flexible regarding group size and duration. The information gained from a structured focus group can address specific questions regarding biases or gaps in case information. 

Mock Trials

Mock trials use focus groups to simulate the processes of an actual jury. The group size is typically 6-12, and the process is more formal. Typically, lawyers present their cases in the order and manner they planned for the actual trial to test their effectiveness. Individual jurors can provide their verdicts on liability and damages privately and discuss their views in the group. The mock trial format will also inform how different people interact and influence each other when discussing the case evidence. Combined with supplemental questionnaires, the mock jury focus group near me can also identify the ideal juror profile regarding personality and background. 

Our Approach: Online Mock Trials

Online Mock Trials are a new and cost-effective way to quickly acquire the thoughts and reactions of a few to several hundred jury-eligible residents in your case venue. The recruited local residents log into a secure website to review real information on an upcoming trial, complete with opening statements, exhibits, witnesses, closing arguments, and jury deliberation instructions. The jurors are asked to deliberate, render a verdict, and, if appropriate, award damages. The outcome provides insights from hundreds of jurors as to the reasons behind their verdicts, specific pieces of information that made them decide the way they did, what facts were most important, and the range of damages they are inclined to award. These powerful insights help evaluate if a settlement is a better option, position your story more effectively, and allow you to save time and money by directing a more focused discovery and trial strategy.

You can also ask the mock jurors to evaluate your presentation strategy using powerful analytic tools. Though a mediator conducts many mock trials, if you want to practice your trial presentation and determine how jurors will perceive you, you can have an objective third party conduct follow-up questions with the mock jury via additional discussion in your absence, via a questionnaire, or via one-on-one private interviews. When assured their responses will be kept confidential, and an unbiased third party asks the questions, mock jurors are more likely to share their honest opinions of you as the trial attorney. How do the jurors perceive you as arrogant or likable? As competent or disorganized? Tools such as linguistic analysis and facial scanning can highlight jurors’ subtle, emotional, and motivational responses to your presentation and evidence. The same tools can also be used to analyze your written arguments and oral statements to determine whether you sound authentic, powerful, analytic, or emotional.

Online Mock Trials provide many sources of quality data to understand better your case’s strengths and weaknesses as well as the effectiveness of your strategy. The convenience of Online Mock Trials allows you to sample a larger group of jury-ready citizens from your venue quickly. You can use Online Mock Trials as a final step to apply what you learned in previous stages of focus groups for exploring, constructing your case, and finding the ideal juror profile.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Focus Group Methods for the Legal Industry

Focus groups can be conducted face-to-face, online, synchronously, or asynchronously. Your chosen method should be driven by your goals (e.g., exploration, testing evidence, practicing the trial). 

Method	Advantages	Disadvantages
Face-to-Face	Simulate the discussion and interpersonal processes that might surface in a real jury. Gain insight into the “hot button” issues by observing participants’ reactions to the evidence and each other’s comments.	Costly and time-consuming. Participants often are not representative of your venue or “jury ready.”
Online	It is less costly, less time-consuming, and can reach a larger, more diverse audience.	They may lose some understanding of the interpersonal processes gained from face-to-face groups and be limited to more technology-savvy citizens.
Synchronous	Learn about the intergroup processes that may surface in an actual jury and affect your case.	Scheduling challenges.
Asynchronous	Be more flexible with scheduling and reach a larger group of participants.	Responses may be less deep without face-to-face or synchronous interaction. Participants have to be incentivized to return to the group discussion.