This article is the eighth in a series based on the results of a recent Jury Impact survey conducted in conjunction with our sister company, MFour Mobile Research. This survey was fielded in July with 543 jury-eligible respondents throughout the United States. “Millennials” include all respondents 34 and younger.
“If you’re getting tried, you’re probably guilty.”
When it comes to civil law, this common snap judgment could be construed as, “If somebody gets sued, there must be something to it.” Although a judge may tell a jury to listen to all of the evidence before forming a conclusion, our research has consistently shown a high percentage of potential civil case jurors may enter the courtroom already favoring the plaintiff.
We have frequently asked over the years whether people believe that if a lawsuit makes it to a courtroom, it must have some merit. The number has remained steady at around two-thirds favoring the plaintiff’s case from the get-go.
For our most recent survey, we also broke down the responses by age. When we consider only millennial responses, those who believe the plaintiff’s case must have some merit if it gets to the trial stage soars to nearly 80 percent.
As much as millennials may distrust institutions such as the legal system, they appear to be even more sure than those 35 and older that there is some mechanism that “authenticates” cases before they get to the trial stage. We have heard this misconception during focus groups around the country, and many jurors are truly surprised to learn the only requirement for a case to be filed is an ability to pay a nominal fee and a willingness to see it through to trial.
Given that millennials are going to be in your jury pool, and statistically more than three out of four will likely enter the courtroom already believing the plaintiff’s side has at least some merit, it is worth exploring this attitude during jury selection to ensure the defense has the fairest possible venire. To discuss further how to detect those potential jurors most likely to share plaintiff-leaning attitudes from the outset, contact Senior Vice President Claire Luna at cluna@juryimpact.net or 714.754.1010.
