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In today's environment, aviation litigators are facing new
challenges. Jurors' fear about accidents and concerns about security have
made it very difficult for jurors to process case evidence and issues. Usually,
aviation accident cases involve presentation of complex technical issues
and multiple theories of causation. Attorneys face a heavy task of teaching.
Effective teaching in the short time of a court trial often requires the
use of demonstrative exhibits, including sophisticated animations and simulations.
Aviation attorneys typically are pilots themselves who have a deep technical
understanding of the issues and no longer remember what it feels like to
be a layperson overwhelmed with the technical jargon and complex science
of aviation. Are you really going to be an effective teacher on behalf of
your client? What identifies those jurors who are so anxious that they will
simply be unable to hear your case? The best way to find out is to test
the effectiveness of your case presentation, expert testimony, and demonstratives
in front of a jury group that resembles a panel in your venue.
In major accident cases, since some amount
of recovery is usually assured, crafting persuasive damages arguments is
key. Mock trials can be a good way to test your damages arguments and assess
the likely range of damage awards. Since these cases often are serial, involving
multiple trials, they also offer great opportunities for learning through
systematic post-trial interviews where jurors are probed about how they
reacted to case arguments and how they arrived at damage figures in the
deliberation room.
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