I’m Jim Messer. I’m an attorney with Fonvielle Lewis Foote & Messer in Tallahassee, Florida. We have used Magnus Research many times in the past on difficult or complex cases, cases that potentially are high value, but which may have difficult issues and problems involved in them. One of the things that we found that is most helpful that Magnus provides for us is the ability not just to help craft arguments from a plaintiff’s standpoint, that is very helpful. But, also to see the pitfalls, to see the defenses that are available. It gives us the opportunity to be able to craft a response to those defenses. In the times that I’ve participated in the mock trials, for the most part, I’ve taken the defense side while one of my partners has taken the plaintiff’s side. Given that I did have a defense background, that’s been very helpful, I think, in sort of evening the playing field, and then gives us the opportunity to find out even more arguments that the defendant would have, and that helps us to get the result that we need.

The research has been specifically helpful in a number of cases that we’ve had, and not just in a trial setting. We take the information that we’ve learned doing a mock trial, and we take that into a mediation. By presenting the arguments and understanding the pitfalls and learning the traps that can come up in the context of a mock trial, we’re then able to present them in a mediation setting. Oftentimes, that’s the difference, and gets us where we need to be in order to be able to resolve the case.