 |
Hamilton County
Courthouse, Third Judicial
Circuit, Jasper, Florida
The Hamilton County Courthouse was built
in 1955. The red brick structure was recently renovated and
expanded. It stands on the same location as all of the Hamilton
County Courthouses since 1891.
The
Relationship Between Attorneys’ Likability and Verdict
A recent postcard prepared by Magnus addressed the issue of
jurors’ perceptions of attorneys’ likability.
We will now turn to the relationship between ratings of attorneys’
likability and verdict. Magnus has analyzed survey data obtained
from 1,862 mock jurors who rated the likability of the attorneys
who argued the case and indicated their verdict preference
in a wide variety of civil cases. The results for plaintiffs’
attorneys were as follows: plaintiffs’ attorneys who
were rated as positive or very positive were far more likely
to win the mock trial than plaintiffs’ attorneys who
were rated as negative or very negative (71% versus 39% plaintiffs’
verdicts, respectively). Defense attorneys’ likability
had different effects on jurors’ decisions: defense
attorneys who were rated as positive or very positive were
likely to lose their case to a lesser extent than defense
attorneys who were rated as negative or very negative (66%
versus 86% of plaintiffs’ verdicts, respectively). Therefore,
in a general sense, plaintiffs’ attorneys’ likability
appears to have a considerably greater impact on the case
outcome than defense attorneys’ likability.
Contact Magnus for tips on improving
your chances of obtaining a favorable case outcome.
|
