Dr. Shelley C. Spiecker of Holland & Hart LLP’s Persuasion Strategies, and Professor Debra L. Worthington of the Auburn University Department of Communication & Journalism have published Explorations of Juror Reasoning: Extending Our Understanding of the Influence of Attorney Opening Statement/Closing Argument Organizational Strategy, 8 Communication Law Review no. 2, at 52 (2008). Here is the abstract:
“Previous research suggests that attorney opening and closing statement organizational patterns interact, affecting jurors’ negligence and damage awards (Spiecker, S. C., & Worthington, D. L. (2003). The influence of opening statement/closing argument organizational strategy on juror verdicts and damage awards, Law & Human Behavior, 27, 437 – 456). Drawing upon unpublished data from this previous study, results of this analysis help to explain why some combinations of organizational patterns are more advantageous than others. Participants exposed to video-taped presentations organized around legal elements of a case were more likely to report relying on applicable law when rendering a verdict, while those exposed to a narrative organizational structure relied more on narrative-based reasoning and less on the applicable law.”
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