Since the mid-2000s, Roy Futterman, Ph.D. has worked with top attorneys on complex, high-stakes matters, often where a client’s liberty or billions of dollars are at stake. With expertise as a clinical psychologist doing individual and group psychotherapy, Dr. Futterman brings a unique skill set to conducting jury research. Throughout his career, he has worked on hundreds of cases, many of which have secured large jury verdicts and settlements in favor of our clients.
Dr. Futterman has extensive expertise in trial consulting, including overseeing focus groups and mock trials, providing strategic analysis and trial recommendations for civil and criminal cases, preparing witnesses, and selecting juries in federal and state courts. He has worked on various types of cases, including securities fraud, intellectual property, class actions, employment, contracts, whistleblower/qui tam, probate, medical malpractice, asbestos, personal injury, sex crimes, and homicide.
“The most satisfying part of my job is listening to mock jurors discuss a case and understanding what’s needed for them to take a more favorable view of the case,” said Dr. Futterman. “Usually, the difficult part is diagnosing the problem. Once the problem becomes clear during our research, the solution often emerges pretty readily. From there, my job is to advise counsel on how to improve or enhance their trial strategy.”
Dr. Futterman’s approach to trial consulting involves integrating psychological theory and technique into jury research exercises. He uses his clinical skills to explore and understand the thoughts and behaviors of groups of mock and actual jurors and prepare individual witnesses for trial.
Dr. Futterman says, “Because of my clinical psychology background, I am often brought in to assist in witness preparation, particularly when an attorney has hit an impasse in preparing a witness. In most cases, the root cause of the witness’ difficulty is a manifestation of their overwhelming anxiety about testifying. I work with the witness on normalizing that anxiety and offer techniques to calm down. The problem usually resolves quickly once it is correctly diagnosed.”
Aside from assessing potential jurors and preparing witnesses, Dr. Futterman is keenly skilled at jury selection strategies. Most recently, he assisted counsel with jury selection for U.S. v Kanekar, a Medicare fraud case with $85 million at stake, and Gruber v Reger, a class action securities fraud case worth about $40 million. Both trials concluded with favorable jury verdicts in favor of our clients – one finding our client not guilty and the other awarding tens of millions in damages.
In discussing his approach to jury selection, Dr. Futterman offered the following three tips to attorneys in selecting a jury:
- Spend time thinking deeply about the opponent’s case from their point of view, focusing on what makes their argument compelling.
- Think about the types of people who would most likely identify with the opposing party’s themes and case facts. These are the potential jurors you want to expose and strike.
- Think about what kinds of things would most identify those unfavorable jurors—demographics or perhaps something said during voir dire. Be sure to ask questions that only expose your unfavorable jurors, not your favorable ones. In other words, do not encourage your favorable jurors to raise their hands and identify themselves to the opposing side.
In summary, Dr. Futterman has played an integral role in assisting trial teams on complex, high-stakes litigation. He attributes much of his ability to work with top attorneys to DOAR’s reputation and approach to trial consulting.
“What distinguishes DOAR from other trial consulting firms is its ability to offer a wide range of fully integrated services. From jury research, witness preparation, and jury selection to graphics consulting and evidence presentation, each service is informed from one to the next, enabling us to assist with trial strategy on all fronts at once.”
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