Countering Reptile-Themed Opening Statements: Defense Strategies for Refocusing Juror Attention
Shaping Juror Perceptions, Influencing Decision-Making, and Enhancing Understanding
A live 90-minute CLE video webinar with interactive Q&A
This CLE webinar will offer guidance to defense attorneys planning and creating their own opening statements when anticipating and responding to reptile-themed plaintiff's opening statements. Attendees will learn the art and science of crafting, structuring, and delivering compelling opening statements to impact today’s jury and the juror brain.
Outline
- Biggest miscues and mistakes made in opening statements
- Persuading the jury
- Primacy and recency effects
- Damages
- Storytelling
- Plaintiff Reptile Theory
- Examples of effective and ineffective openings
Benefits
Dr. Kanasky, Jr. will discuss these and other key issues:
- Understanding common mistakes made by the defense in opening statements
- Understanding and applying the psychology concepts of primacy, recency, cognitive lens, and availability bias
- Understanding and leveraging the power of storytelling in opening statements and structuring information and delivery to resonate with today’s jurors
- Understanding, with specific examples, the difference between effective and ineffective opening statements and applying the learned concepts at trial
Faculty

Dr. Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D.
Senior Vice President
Courtroom Sciences
Dr. Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D. is Senior Vice President of Litigation Psychology for Courtroom Sciences, Inc. and a nationally... | Read More
Dr. Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D. is Senior Vice President of Litigation Psychology for Courtroom Sciences, Inc. and a nationally recognized expert, author, and speaker in the areas of advanced witness training and jury psychology in civil litigation. He consults on more than 200 cases annually in the areas of defendant witness training, early case assessment, jury decision-making research, and jury selection strategy. Dr. Kanasky empirically based consulting methods are specially designed to defeat plaintiff “Reptile” and Edge strategies, which have resulted in billions of dollars of damage awards across the nation. He earned his B.A. in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his Ph.D. in Clinical and Health Psychology from the University of Florida.
CloseEarly Discount (through 02/14/25)