Larry Smith and Cindy Collins
Of Counsel
October 2, 1995
Trial Consultants Expand Services to Meet Diverse Law Firm Needs

EXCERPTED

The acceptance of nonlawyer trial consul tants by attorneys is possible because...most litigators are not master manipulators, nor dazzling speakers, nor prescient as to what makes judges tick and juries listen. They often need help in all those areas.

Over the last 10 years, the acceptance of trial consultants has snowballed. Lawyers note that there was no longer a stigma or admission of inadequacy in using outsiders to help prepare cases. Attorneys at some of today's most prestigious law firms now hire trial consultants. According to Gillian Drake, director of On Trial Associates, Inc. in Rockville, Md., "they realize they can get an MRI, not just a CAT scan" on a case.

... The market welcomes healthy diversity. Gillian Drake, with a background in theater rather than the hard sciences, seems a case in point. She acknowledges that some of her competitors don't respect her or her credentials, yet she's survived as a trial consultant for 10 years.

Drake employs acting techniques to enhance lawyer performances. Working with a number of prestigious law firms, she's prepped whole teams of key witnesses in large government-related cases on behalf of the telecommunications industry, and in high-exposure cases on behalf of insurance companies.

Among other new frontiers, McEvoy cites increased interest in judge persuasion as a discrete field, while Gillian Drake emphasizes deposition preparation as a growing area.

Drake, for one, figures the [O. J. Simpson] case will have a salutory effect despite the widespread cynicism, because such constant exposure shows how the work itself can be a normal component of a major trial. That, in turn, spells further acceptance for consultants who, side by side with famous lawyers, former judges and law professors, may now enjoy the enviable (and profitable) rank of Pundit First Class.