Source of article ComCon - Communication Consulting.

Attorneys have considerable control over the verdict form provided civil juries. At times, a general verdict form is used, where the jury is called on to answer one or two global questions . At other times, the jury answers a series of specific questions relating to the material issues in the case. The type of verdict form jurors receive can influence their verdicts. Schmidt and Diamond (1998) examined the effect of verdict forms on liability judgments in a products liability case. Jurors given a general verdict form were nearly twice as likely…