We have had a cold snap here in the heart of Texas Hill Country and it has given us a taste (kind of) of what colder parts of the country experience as fall gives way to winter. That crispy weather is just all the more reason to put off spending time on holiday decorating, shoveling snow, or shopping. Just find a comfortable chair and a laptop or tablet and sit back with the final 2014 issue of The Jury Expert. You will find research and thoughts from practitioners on video image size and gay bias in the courtroom as well as an article focused on stress and depression in attorneys. We have an article on neuroscience evidence potentially backfiring on you and a book review on Law and Neuroscience (which is hot off the presses). We also have a primer on how to communicate with your social science expert witness.

Finally, we have a special piece penned by Lynne Williams from the (very cold) state of Maine. It is rare to get a glimpse into the mind of someone skilled in selecting juries for political trials – and that is what we have in this issue. Lynne shares her experiences in selecting juries for both civil disobedience trials and antiwar protest trials. She doesn’t just share what she does, but also why and how she does what she does. As I read this article for the first time, I was excited and touched that Lynne would share her internal process with readers of The Jury Expert – but I was also thrilled that we get to publish a piece on important work being done in this area of litigation advocacy. As trial consultants, we have a rich history in the civil disobedience and antiwar movements as well as in civil rights. Sometimes we can forget the quiet work continuing on in those important arenas. Thanks to Lynne for reminding us!

We also want to give a shout out to Richard Gabriel (TJE author, trial consultant, and a very nice guy) who has made the big time but….we knew him when. Richard’s book Acquittal will be the basis of a new TV series produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and airing on CBS. As we go to press, I have no idea who is playing Richard but I have a favorite candidate for the role. My DVR will certainly be recording this one when it hits the airwaves. Congratulations, Richard!

This issue will publish just before Thanksgiving here in the United States and we want to again thank all our readers who keep coming back and those who stumble across us and stay to read more. We won’t be back with a new issue until February of 2015 so our wish is that you have a happy and restful holiday season and that January begins slowly but quickly builds to usher in a profitable beginning to 2015. In the meantime, keep reading and as always, let us know if there is anything in particular you would like to read in our virtual pages.

Rita R. Handrich, Ph.D.

Editor, The Jury Expert