As Coronavirus and fear spread, and as authorities make decisions about travel and quarantine, we at Trial Dynamics are thinking ahead. At the moment, we are still conducting in-person mock trials and travelling nationally to do so. We are offering some extra precautions to make jurors comfortable, such as having an extra person on hand to consistently wipe down surfaces and door handles. We will serve only food that is boxed and nothing will be communal, including coffees and waters. We will also ensure that recruits are not sick and that they don’t have any family members actively sick. We will check that recruits have not traveled outside of the US within the last few weeks. However, if travel bans are implemented for national travel and participants become too afraid to show up in person, we have backup options.
We are working with online platforms to create a virtual focus group option. Most likely, this would allow participants to partake in the focus group/mock trial from their homes using a webcam. They can still hear the case and respond to questionnaires as well as deliberate. While there is a drawback to having a webcam instead of being in a room with other jurors, this may become a necessary step during this time and we are confident that we can get good, accurate, useful feedback. If you are interested in running a focus group or mock trial but are hesitant of losing money on expenses if this virus continues to impact business and travel, let us handle your case online. More details of how this will work coming in a few days.