Stack and Sway: The New Science of Jury Consulting

This work is a fascinating account discussing the circumstances under which jury consultants are effective. I read it to be rather unbiased. The Kressel's concentrate on the facts of prominent cases as well as the experiences of jury consultants and seasoned trial attorneys. It contains arguments from experts who disagree on the effectiveness of hiring a consultant and the prudence of paying 5 and 6 figure fees for simulated trials, witness coaching and after-trial analysis. Since the authors do not pander to jury consultants, or to the trial attorneys who use them, I can see why this book is controversial and it may receive bad reviews from attorneys who swear by them. I am unsure of what the attorney reviewers mean when they say that "Stack and Sway" is written by only social-scientists. Dorit Kressel (co-author) is a practicing trial attorney in NJ.

This book wasn't written by a consultant and it isn't a cookbook on how to do jury consulting. But it is a pretty fair guide to what jury consultants and the lawyers who use them are up to. The authors claim to expose some myths about juries, consultants and lawyers. They may not convince everyone -- and they will probably anger some consultants -- but they have done their homework. The book is loaded with evidence, some of it from social scientists, some of it based on interviews with lawyers and consultants. After reading the book, however, I'm still sure whether trial consultants are a threat to our justice system or not. But I am glad I read it.

As an academic interested in finding ways to build the bridge between good scholarship and engaging prose, I have to recommend Dr. Kressel's book. He addresses all those inevitable qualifying circumstances and limiting features of what we know without sacrificing the larger picture. He is a story-teller that allows the story to be as complex as it is without losing the underlying reality that the development of a jury selection industry really is a story that very much needs to be told.