TRIAL DYNAMICS
About
Jessica Brylo, JD, MA, Owner and Lead Litigation Consultant
Jessica Brylo is the owner and lead litigation consultant at Trial Dynamics, a consulting firm dedicated to plaintiff’s civil and criminal defense litigation. She specializes in case framing, jury research, opening statement development, witness preparation, and jury selection.
Over the past two decades, Ms. Brylo has spoken to thousands of jurors and conducted hundreds of mock trials, the results of which she uses to guide case strategy and framing on cases ranging from soft tissue injuries to 9-figure catastrophic injury cases and multi-billion dollar class-action lawsuits.
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Ms. Brylo originally trained with one of the nation’s leading trial consultants, David Ball, Ph.D., and is one of a handful in the nation who has studied Arizona Project (1996) videos of real juries deliberating. She has a JD and Masters in Psychology, both from Duke University, and was previously a board member of the American Society of Trial Consultants (ASTC).
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Ms. Brylo specializes in cases involving personal injury, car wrecks, wrongful death, medical malpractice, product defect, premises liability, trucking litigation, medical negligence, civil rights, mass torts, and employment law.
Contracted Partners
Jennifer LaRue, Litigation Consultant
Jennifer R. LaRue began her trial consulting career as a project manager for Litigation Insights (initially known as the Center for Trial Insights) in college. After graduating from the University of Kansas with a degree in Communications, she returned to Litigation Insights as a consultant. During her time with Litigation Insights, Ms. LaRue continued her education. She graduated with an MBA with a focus in communications and marketing from the Block School at the University of Missouri. In 2007, Ms. LaRue joined the Pennebaker in Houston team to do communications and litigation consulting. Beginning in 2013, Ms. LaRue collaborated with Karen Kash Redden at WitnessWork as a senior consultant and, eventually, a partner.
Ms. LaRue has extensive experience in research, including focus groups and mock trials, community attitude surveys, and post-trial interviews. She also excels at communication-related tasks, including witness prep, creation of case themes, and voir dire development and strategy. Ms. LaRue has worked on several medical malpractice cases, including years of extensive breast implant work, infant deaths, and general medical negligence cases. In addition, she has worked on auto litigation, as well as other personal injury cases. Ms. LaRue excels in making complicated business issues accessible to jurors, particularly in complex class action suits, embezzlement, contract disputes, and patent law. She has handled several cases where the defendant(s) pled the Fifth. Her broad understanding of business practices, work on the defense side, and years of experience can bring insights and a valuable perspective to the team.
Big Data
Campbell Law LLC
In large or complex cases, focus groups and mock trials may not be enough. Big Data studies provide a quantitative analysis to complement qualitative work of traditional case testing methodologies. Not all Big Data companies are created equal. While we will work with any vendor, we work closely and regularly with Campbell Law, LLC. For more information on Big Data, please click HERE
Recruiting
Focus Groups of America®
In any focus group or mock trial, the output is only as good as the input. The quality and representativeness of your jurors matter. When running jury studies, we rely on Focus Groups of America, a national professional recruiting company, to find and seat our jurors.
Publications from Jessica Brylo, J.D., M.A.
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“How to Write an Effective Opening Statement,” Trial Talk, Feb/March 2009; republished in Nevada Lawyer Magazine
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“How to Write an Effective Closing Argument,” Trial Talk, April/May 2009
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“Preparing for an Effective Mediation,” Trial Talk, June/July 2009
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“Consulting on a Budget,” Trial Talk, Aug/Sept 2009
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“The Hidden Power of Preponderance,” Trial Talk, Oct/Nov 2009
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“Focus Group Follies,” Trial Talk, Dec 2009/Jan 2010
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“Why a Focus Group Before Mediation is Money Well Spent,” Trial Talk, Feb/Mar 2010
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“How Jurors Attribute Fault and Calculate Damages,” Trial Talk, April/May 2010
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“How Well Can You Predict the Outcome of Your Case?” Trial Talk, June/July 2010
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“Does Order Really Matter?” Trial Talk, August/September 2010
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“Visual Persuasion Tips and Techniques,” Trial Talk, October/November 2010
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“The Minutia of Effective Voir Dire,” Trial Talk, Dec/Jan 2011
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“Junk In, Junk Out: The Science of Focus Groups,” Trial Talk, Feb/March 2011
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“Should Your Client Be in the Courtroom?” Trial Talk, April/May 2011
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“Consulting on a Budget,” The Jury Expert, May 2011
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“Forget What You Learned in Law School,” Trial Talk, June/July 2011
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“All Eyes on You,” Trial Talk, Aug/Sept 2011
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“Combating Tort Reform Through Advertising,” Trial Talk, Oct/Nov 2011
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“Dealing with Malingering Claims,” Trial Talk, Dec/Jan 2012
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“How Community Service Increases the Value of Your Case,” Trial Talk, Feb/March 2012
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“Implications of False Memory on the Legal System: How Far from the Truth Is Reality?” Trial Talk, April/May 2012
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“Accurately Predicting the Outcome of Your Case,” American Bar Association Trial Practice Committee, June 2012
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“Employment Issues and Your Jury,” Trial Talk, June/July 2012
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“Lessons on Persuasion from the Presidential Election,” Trial Talk, Oct/Nov 2012
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“Book Review: Winning Medical Malpractice Cases with Rules of the Road Technique,” Trial Talk, Dec/Jan 2013
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Multiple interviews with The Denver Post regarding the James Holmes murder trial, 2015
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"Where Do the Courts Go From Here?," Trial Talk June 2022
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"How Attys Can Get Reliable Data From Pretrial Focus Groups," Law360 September 2022
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"Strategies For Predicting How Jurors Will React To Your Case," Law360 December 2022
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Speaking Engagements with Jessica Brylo, J.D., M.A.
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“Using Focus Groups to Identify Potential Gender Biases,” CTLA Women Trial Lawyers Network, March 2011
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“Making Sense of Non-sensical Verdicts: A Dive Into the Juror’s Mind,” CTLA Blockbuster 2012, January 2012
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“Jury Selection: Preparing for Success,” Adams/Broomfield Bar Association, November 2012
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Death penalty panel debate, Temple Emanuel, Denver, September 2015
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Broadcast interview regarding the James Holmes murder trial, CBS Evening News, 2015
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“Juror Concerns in Product Liability Cases,” CTLA Product Liability Committee, March 2016
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“Witness Prep: Working from the Inside, Out,” Colorado Bar Association Continuing Legal Education event, 2020
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“Witness Preparation in a Divorce Case with Jessica Brylo,” Divorce at Altitude (podcast), June 2022
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“Tipping the Scales in Your Favor,” Trial Lawyer Nation Episode #108, June 2022
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“Case Framing Workshop,” Trial Lawyers University Live Conference, October 2022
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"Lessons Learned from an $8.4 Million Trip & Fall Verdict with Zero Comparative Fault (and no settlement offer)," NAPLA Annual Convention, May 2023
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“The Art and Science of DIY Focus Groups,” Trial Lawyers University NYC, Sept 2023
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“Reframe Your Case with Jury Consultants” Workshop. Trial Lawyers University NYC, Sept 2023
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Persuasion Principles for Trial Lawyers, Strafford Webinar, October 2023
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Psychology of Picking a Jury, Colorado Women’s Trial Lawyers Association, May 2024
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Breaking Through Barriers: Overcoming Obstacles to Achieve Multi-Million Dollar Verdicts, Trial Lawyers University, Huntington Beach CA, June 2024
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Crafting the Narrative: Optimize Case Framing With a Jury Consultant, Trial Lawyers University, Huntington Beach CA, June 2024
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Harnessing the Power of Big Data and Focus Groups, Trial Lawyer Nation Podcast, August 2024
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Focus Groups, Mock Trials, and Big Data - Which One, Why, and When? (With Alicia Campbell), Trial Lawyers University, Sept 2024
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Focus Groups, Mock Trials, and Big Data – How, when, and why, MyLawCLE, Sept 2024
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Case Framing, Trial Lawyers University, Oct 2024
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Maximizing case value: DIY focus groups, mock trials, and big data, Trial Lawyers University, Oct 2024
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Framing Your Case: Leveraging Test Results for Maximum Impact, Trial Lawyers University, October 2024
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Data vs Traditional Testing – A Comprehensive Analysis, Trial Lawyer University, October 2024
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Optimize Case Framing with a Jury Consultant Workshop, Trial Lawyer University, October 2024
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Testing the Case: Focus Groups vs Big Data, Primerus, December 2024
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Using Focus Groups and Big Data to Frame Your Case, Trial Guides, Jan 2025
