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Practice Tip: Never Overlook 'Motive' When Trying Product Liability Cases

By G. Christopher Ritter
June 27, 2005

The poor trial lawyer sat dejected as he watched the mock jury deliberating his product liability case. He and his colleagues had spent the better part of 2 days presenting their evidence to a group especially chosen by a jury consultant to reflect the demographics of the actual jurors before whom the real dispute would shortly be tried.

The technology underlying the allegedly defective product was complex. In response, the trial lawyer had spent considerable time discussing with the mock jurors various scientific and technical issues. The trial lawyer's commitment to this level of detail made what he was watching through the one-way mirror all the more shocking.

The deliberations started off predictably enough. The mock jurors selected a foreperson; they read through the verdict form together; they even spent several minutes discussing the basics of the technology and the product liability jury instructions. But then, there was a pause, a silent break, and something completely unexpected happened ' one of the jurors asked a very simple question, “So, what do you think motivated those parties to do what they did? What was really going on between those guys?”

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