The bottom line: The effect of written expert witness statements on juror verdicts and information processing

Mock jurors recruited front jury rolls were either not given written statem ents of expert witnesses' direct testimony or were provided with such state ments before or after the presentation of that testimony. Presentation of t he statements before the testimony and cross-examination provided jurors wi th a schema that allowed them to distinguish more effectively among the cla ims of four differentially worthy plaintiffs because they processed more pr obative evidence than other jurors. Jurors in receipt of written statements before the testimony found the evidence to be more comprehensible than oth er jurors. Jurors provided with written statements following testimony and cross-examination were able to differentiate between the most and least sev erely injured plaintiffs, whereas jurors not in receipt of any written stat ements were unable to differentiate among any of the differentially worthy claimants. The limitations of this case management technique and of the stu dy ave discussed.