The Litigation Psychology Podcast

Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D. compares focus groups in jury research to x-rays in medical evaluations. X-rays are fast, reliable, and inexpensive early tests to reveal critical, structural issues prior to more advanced testing like an MRI. Similarly, focus groups conducted early in a case can be executed quickly and inexpensively and can reveal core foundational issues and opportunities in your case p...

Trial Attorney Tad Eckenrode of Eckenrode-Bauman joins Bill Kanasky, Jr, Ph. D. to talk about the current state of medical malpractice litigation. Bill and Tad discuss the reasons for a lack of trust in the healthcare system. They talk about questioning strategies in voir dire to identify more specifically where juror frustrations with the healthcare system stems from and the challenge with not be...

Brent Turman, Attorney with Munsch Hardt, and Sean Murphy, Practice Lead of CSI's Crisis Consulting services, join Steve Wood, Ph. D. to talk about the recent verdicts against Meta and Google and what the juries in those cases found. Brent compares social media platforms to tobacco companies in the fact that these platforms were developed to be addictive. Brent also talks about how the representat...

Triple board-certified legal nurse expert Marilyn McCullum, joins Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D., to talk about her experience as an emergency room nurse expert witness. Marilyn works with attorneys on both sides to review emergency room medical records, which can be more nuanced than regular medical records. Marilyn talks about the differences between working with plaintiff and defense attorneys and h...

Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D. defines the competence trap with witnesses. Bill shares why there is often a perception that witnesses who are highly competent in their jobs will perform really well as witnesses during testimony and why this often isn't true. He describes several reasons why some witnesses who are highly skilled in their professional positions may not make good witnesses. Bill talks abo...

CSI Litigation Consultant Linda Khzam, M.A. joins Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D. to talk about illogical thought patterns of witnesses. Often witnesses have misconceptions about the litigation process or concerns about ramifications of their performance in the deposition, which need to be addressed before any prep can start. Bill and Linda share how they help witnesses open up so they can address any d...

Paul Molinaro, M.D., J.D. joins Steve Wood, Ph. D. for part 2 of their conversation about medical malpractice litigation from Paul's unique perspective as a Physician, Attorney, Mediator, and Arbitrator. Paul talks about his role as a mediator, shares his philosophy on managing mediations, and how he approaches different mediation scenarios. Paul gives examples of two types of mediations: facilita...

Paul Molinaro, M.D., J.D., who is a Physician, Attorney, Mediator, Arbitrator and founder of MD JD Dispute Resolution, joins Steve Wood, Ph. D. to share his background on his many roles and experience with medical malpractice cases. Paul and Steve discuss the standard of care, how Paul evaluates the cases that he is approached to work on, how patients and jurors judge physicians, how they perceive...

Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D. defines and describes the cognitive gap and why witnesses must protect this gap during testimony. Bill shares the brain science behind cognitive fatigue when maximizing cognition in a deposition and how a witness must be trained - not just told - how to practice and protect the cognitive gap. The training process requires teaching and practice in order to master the skill...

CSI Litigation Consultant Sarah Burton, Ph. D. joins Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D. to talk about training witnesses to prepare them for testimony. Sarah shares how she approaches getting to know witnesses before the training formally begins to help put them at ease and to evaluate their mental and emotional state. Bill and Sarah discuss how challenging it is for witness's brains to be concise when the...

Alexander Green, Partner with Lewis Brisbois, joins Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D. to discuss young attorney development and mentoring. Alexander shares his thoughts on what attorney mentorship looks like and how leaders can facilitate development opportunities for early career attorneys within their firms. Alexander also talks about how his career has benefited from having mentors, how he balances bei...

CSI Litigation Consultant Linda Khzam joins Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D. to share the breakdown of a recent case and the jury research process that was used. Bill and Linda take a deep dive into the who, what, when, where, and why of Case Assessment Panels, which are virtual focus groups, and are the primary methodology for conducting exploratory jury research. Case Assessment Panels can be conducted...

Attorney Billy Davis of Taylor Nelson Slattery Bernard PL joins Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D. to discuss their Law360 article on the topic of witnesses using AI for their deposition or trial testimony prep. Billy and Bill talk about how they anticipate the questions from opposing counsel at deposition about AI usage by witnesses is going to play out. Billy shares what he thinks may happen if witnesses...

Carlos Rincon, Founding Shareholder at Rincon Law Group, P.C. joins Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D. to talk about tips and lessons learned from Carlos’s decades long career as a trial attorney. Carlos shares tips for lawyers on the topics of voir dire questions, jury research, developing a narrative, opening statements, direct and cross-examination of witnesses, demonstratives, nerves while preparing fo...

Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D. discusses negative thought patterns of witnesses and how critical it is to identify and address these negative thoughts during prep. Bill shares a story about a recent witness he worked with and the process he took with this witness who was struggling with ruminating and negative thoughts. He advises attorneys to make the time to confront these emotional, negative thought...

Chantal Roberts, Principal & CEO of CMR Consulting, joins Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D. to talk all about insurance. Bill and Chantal discuss the all-out blitz against the insurance industry by the plaintiff's bar and the issues with policyholder's confusion and misunderstanding about insurance. They discuss the relationship between defense attorneys and adjusters and suggest how they can work bet...

The likeability of witnesses is a huge factor in juror evaluation and decision-making. Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D. talks about the necessity of testing plaintiff likeability by getting the plaintiff deposition on video so it can be played in a focus group to get feedback on the plaintiff. Juror perception of the plaintiff is a major influencing factor in how they consider the case. Likeability of de...

CSI Litigation Consultant Linda Khzam joins Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D. to talk about early jury research. Linda describes the format of the virtual focus group model and benefits that clients and attorneys realize from conducting these education and evaluation jury research projects. Bill and Linda discuss how focus groups differ from mock trials, and how, especially when conducted early, help iden...

Mike Bassett, Trial Lawyer and Managing Partner at The Bassett Firm, joins Steve Wood, Ph. D. and Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D. to commemorate the 300th episode of The Litigation Psychology Podcast and discuss a wide range of topics about managing litigation and how things have evolved over the years. Mike shares the benefits he and his firm realize from conducting early jury research and how these ea...

Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D. shares recent feedback he has received from corporate and insurance clients with regards to a reluctance by some of their defense attorneys to take a different approach in how they manage their client's litigation. Some corporate and insurance clients are wanting more proactivity and aggressiveness from their counsel and are running into resistance from some, which is lea...

Doug Marcello, Shareholder with Saxton & Stump and an expert in trucking litigation, joins Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D. to give a state of the union on litigation in the transportation and trucking space. Doug shares what he sees as the primary issues in trucking litigation today and Bill and Doug discuss suggestions on what insurance companies and defense attorneys should do differently in manag...

Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D. describes the surprising connection between Meat Loaf's 1993 hit song I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That) and the Reptile Theory. Bill breaks down the correlation between the lyrics of this love song and the unreasonable expectations and standards that are present in Reptile questions. He explains how attorneys need to help witnesses understand that circums...

Holly Howanitz, Managing Partner with Tyson & Mendes, joins Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D. to discuss the current state of litigation in Florida after the tort reform bill H.B. 837 was passed in March 2023. Holly shares how both tort reform and the new rules of civil procedure that went into effect in January 2025 are impacting cases. The biggest change that Holly has seen is related to medical bil...

Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D. describes what he calls the dead zone in opening statements. The dead zone is the middle part of the opening where juror attention is at its lowest. Bill lays out a 3 x 3 framework for the dead zone in the opening: 3 core issues supported by 3 high impact facts. He talks about how the opening statement should be focused on teasing and framing your case, not getting into t...

Jim Pattillo & Todd Weston, Partners with Christian & Small, join Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph. D. to talk about a range of topics on managing a law firm and managing litigation. The group discuss how to get younger attorneys trial experience, particularly when fewer and fewer cases are going to trial, how to manage stress, work/life balance, and healthy lifestyles while still growing a profitabl...