Lawyers Will Be Lawyers, Dumping More on Juries Than They Can Process - WSJ.com

Lawyers Will Be Lawyers, Dumping More on Juries Than They Can Process - WSJ.com, Nov. 6, 2008.

When the high-profile prosecution of a Texas charity accused of helping Palestinian terrorists collapsed in a chaotic mistrial here a year ago, there were lots of theories about what went wrong, from government overreaching to a new political climate to a rogue juror.

But there was another problem, according to lawyers who followed the trial: Some jurors were bored and bewildered. They were buried under 197 counts and an avalanche of evidence, including hundreds of documents and dozens of wiretap tapes.

The article discusses the temptation lawyers have to put in every darn bit of evidence they've dug up -- and the resultant boredom and confusion juries experience. In white-collar cases, there's often simply too much accounting and paper to hold jurors' attention.

Jury consultant Robert Hirschhorn offers this trifecta: "A, you have to make it interesting. B, you have to use simple words. C, you need to come up with analogies or examples."

Thanks: Alysha Yagoda.