San Francisco Mediation: Focus Groups Before A Mediation

Are you preparing your mediation case for presentation in front of a focus group? That’s great—you’re already on the way to better understanding the strengths and potential weaknesses of your case, as well as the other valuable insights we’ll be talking about today.

Before you head into the focus group process, keep the following insights in mind. By knowing what there is to gain ahead of time, you’ll be better able to recognize positive insights as they come up within the focus group.

Your evidence is weaker than you thought.

One of the most important insights you can gain from a focus group is that the evidence or witness testimony you were counting on is, unfortunately, weaker or less effective than you thought. While this may be disappointing, it’s better to learn about potential weaknesses in your case now (as opposed to later on in a costly, high stakes trial).

There’s a detail in the case you’ve overlooked.

While you may have an airtight argument, you may have been overlooking an important detail in the case. By observing a focus group and listening to their questions, you may realize that there’s something you forgot to address or consider in your argument.

There’s room for improvement.

Is the focus group not “sold” on your argument? If your case isn’t as solid as you want it to be, the focus group’s reaction to it will display that. Once you realize that there’s room for improvement in your case, you will be able to adjust accordingly.

You should “run with” a key detail.

Just as a focus group may prove that you ignored an important detail, it may also reveal a key detail that you should “run with” because the focus group responded well to it. If there’s a specific part of your argument that the focus group responds well to, then it may be beneficial to focus on it more heavily in your argument… which is something worth knowing if you do go to court!

Emotional responses in a non-competitive environment.

The emotions of a focus group can really give you an idea of how you and your case would fare in court. Fortunately, you’re able to discover these emotions without ever having to “risk it all” in an actual trial. While you may have already received sound legal advice and information from a mediator, there’s nothing quite as crucial to understanding a potential jury as to actually work with and observe them in the safe, comfortable atmosphere of our focus group rooms.

Because focus groups are so flexible, you can present more pressing items to your group without having to go through the entire trial process. This is an efficient way to get an idea of how others may respond to your case—so the insights you gain here are worth listening to! If you’re in need of a focus group, jury mediation or any of our alternative dispute resolution services, please contact us today.