Personal Injury Claims and the Use of Focus Groups

Focus groups are a cross-section of the population who has been hired to listen and give their opinions on certain issues. In legal matters, such as accident cases, they are not informed what side the lawyer represents. The reason for this is to maintain an unbiased analysis of the issues that are presented. Revealing whom the lawyer represents will tend to influence the way the group will respond. Usually, no one wants to tell the attorney who is representing a client that he is all-wrong in his approach.

This whole purpose of a focus group is to subject certain issues to critical analysis. For example, if there is a concern about whether a client may be held partly responsible for an accident although the other person went through a red light, then it would be important to address the issue in a non-adversarial light. The purpose of a focus group is not to try to convince them of one's position. It is to open the door to discussion so that differing position can be heard and discussed openly.

Generally, a focus group may consist of six to eight people who have been selected to represent a cross-section of the population where the case may be tried. Conceivably, what one might expect to represent as jurors in that community? They are paid for their time and usually welcome the opportunity to participate in this activity. It is done in a very informal setting, usually a lawyer's conference room, and there are no stringent rules as would be found in a courtroom. Light snacks and drinks are provided to make the participants relaxed and comfortable.

Participants are encouraged to ask questions throughout a brief introduction of the case. Care is taken to make sure that the initial presentation is not skewed toward one side or the other. Participants are informed not to be offended if some questions are not answered. Answering some questions may be irrelevant or lead the participants to draw some conclusions too early so that some issues do not get addressed fully.

The entire focus group meeting will take approximately two hours. Therefore, the issues to be addressed should be worked out in advance. They should be presented in such a way that allows plenty of time for discussion. An issue can be presented from differing points of view or as simply an issue for open discussion.

Use of focus groups is extremely helpful in revealing issues that may not have been previously considered in a personal injury lawsuit. Lawyers handling personal injury cases sometimes get so convinced of their position that they suffer from "tunnel vision" and can't see how the average person may view their case. These are the people who will be judging the case at trial. Focus groups can help a lawyer refocus their case for a jury of their peers and very informative when it comes to finding out the strengths and weakness of your personal injury lawsuit.