We’ve spent some trying a few new things here at The Jury Expert that have kept us from regular publishing but now, let’s get back to some good extra-curricular reading on things you can actually use in your work. In the event you have not heard, trial consultants are now on prime-time television and so we asked Richard Gabriel to weigh in on what it means to have trial consultants on TV and how we can use the lessons learned from this somewhat amusing, but hardly accurate look at the profession. Richard began to write and realized he had two articles and not just one—so we published both of them. Thanks, Richard!

Then we have a look at what persuasion is (a summary of the literature from a group of academics) along with consultant responses and a reply from the authors. After that Jason Barnes, the “Graphics Guy” and our Associate Editor tells us how to deepen understanding of our listeners by adding graphics to our words. Speaking of our listeners—we have an intriguing article that just may contain a secret weapon to persuasion. Andy Luttrell writes on “making it moral” for us and we have a couple of trial consultant responses on how to use this strategy in litigation advocacy.

Court reporters are always a quiet presence in the courtroom but what do they really think of everything they hear and faithfully transcribe? Those words are important and this article gives us a peek into their secret lives. Speaking of words—we have an article from Mykol Hamilton and Kate Zephyrhawke on the importance of wording in change of venue questionnaires. It’s a quick and surprising read and one that could make the difference between a successful and unsuccessful motion.

Brian Patterson has been doing a lot of work ‘under the hood’ on our website. You won’t notice it but it makes it much, much easier and faster for us to bring you The Jury Expert regularly and attractively! Thanks Brian!

And finally, we welcome cooler weather just in time for our final issue of 2016. Sit back, relax, and enjoy this new issue of TJE! As always, if you’d like to share feedback with us, you can email me by clicking on my name below. We love hearing from our readers!

Rita R. Handrich, Editor

The Jury Expert