What Is a Jury Consultant and How to Become One
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What Does a Jury Consultant Do?
As a jury consultant, your responsibilities are to advise attorneys on how to select jurors for trials. You may work for the prosecution or the defense, and many jury consultants work freelance and have experience with both sides of the courtroom. Attorneys often call in jury consultants when there is something special about the trial, such as when the defendant is a celebrity or the crime has notoriety, making it harder to get impartial jurors. In other scenarios, a client may feel that their litigation could be helped by a jury consultant. Your duties are to help your client assess potential jurors and research their backgrounds to ensure they are not prejudiced against your client.
How to Become a Jury Consultant
The qualifications to become a jury consultant are not uniform, and jury consultants come from many different professional backgrounds and fields. Lawyers may choose to transition into trial consultation, meaning many consultants have a law degree and experience with criminal or civil trials. Other jury consultants come from fields like psychology, behavioral science, and sociology, where they have training understanding the motivations or body language of people. Regardless of your background, you should have excellent perception, high attention to detail, and strong interpersonal communication skills.
