Trial Scientists

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The Art of Trial Science

In order to make the best decisions, an attorney has to have the best information. And in order to present the best case, the attorney must fully understand how jurors perceive the arguments, evidence and witnesses. All of this is possible through a rigorous, scientific approach to understanding cases. Put more plainly: Big data makes big decisions easier.

John and Alicia have spent the last decade learning the science of big data, online studies, and statistical analysis. They bring those tools to bear at Campbell Law.

Big Data is a fundamental part of Campbell Law.

More than perhaps any other firm in the country, Campbell Law believes that better information makes better decisions. Campbell Law believes that big data and a science based approach to cases levels the playing field and that it can make any case more valuable. Indeed, John and Alicia operate on a simple rule: Big decisions call for big data.

You can’t decide whether to settle, what jurors to select, what evidence to share, how your client plays, whether to admit some comparative fault, how much to ask for in closing argument, or any of the other myriad questions we all face by relying solely on your gut. You need real answers. And they are available with big data. The methods are now tried and true. Time and again, the methods John and Alicia have developed have accurately predicted verdict ranges and provided insights into how to win difficult cases and to maximize value.

This marriage of big data with trial law came from a happy confluence of events.

John started his journey towards big data while working as a professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. There he became a well-known academic studying jurors. He is a recognized author in the field and continues to produce research to advance justice in courts and legislatures.

Alicia joined the fight as she began to study her own cases using the same principles that informed academic studies. This desire to meld scientific rigor with real world questions produced a company called Empirical Jury. As founders of Empirical Jury, John and Alicia studied cases in at least 40 states, using over 135,000 jurors, across 330+ cases. In only five years they were honored to participate in over $1 billion in verdicts and more than $2 billion in settlements.

Empirical Jury was a wonderful experience, but it was only a first step. Over the last five years, as the plaintiff bar has embraced big data, so too has the defense. PhDs in social science and statistics are now common hires at large defense firms.

So, John and Alicia decided that more was required. At Campbell Law they are driven by three future-looking goals.

To continue to use big data to help attorneys obtain, fine-grained, and powerful insights that help them best serve their clients;
To develop technological tools for the future, including jury selection software, AI that allows deeper understanding of juries, and much more;
To encourage the development of a wider body of knowledge and research regarding jurors and juries. This includes founding the Justice through Empirical Data Institute (JEDI), which will work with Arizona State University to fund important jury research that benefits all of the practicing bar.