how common are mock trials in minor injury personal injury cases

I have been involved in mock trials for personal injury cases. In almost all of them,the value of the case was in the million dollar range. I would be astonished if this lawyer would go through the expense and time of a mock trial for a "minor injury" unless he has a group of students and is trying it as an academic exercise.

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LEGAL DISCLAIMER
Mr. Sarno is licensed to practice law in NJ and NY. His response here is not legal advice and does not create an attorney/ client relationship. The response is in the form of legal education and is intended to provide general information about the matter in question. Many times the questioner may leave out details which would make the reply unsuitable. Mr. Sarno strongly advises the questioner to confer with an attorney in their own state to acquire more information about this issue.

I was a judge once in a mock trial with some law students and the sample facts were taken from a small claim car accident case. The injury was minor but the liabililty facts were hotly contested.

It would be unusual to do a mock trial in a small injury case. However, it would depend on how much time is devoted to this exercise by the attorney handling the case. It could be very simple and just basic trial preparation.

Your friend is fortunate to have found an attorney who would try a minor injury case.

The correct term is not "Mock Trial." What I believe you are referring to is a "Focus Group." A focus group is nothing more than getting together a group of folks from the community (sometimes for pay, sometimes for no money) to discuss and observe their reactions to various themes or issues that pertain to your case. It could be issues of damages, it could be about whether a jury is more or less likely to find the defendant is responsible based on your particular facts. In all cases, the focus group is exposed to facts and issues in any number of scenarios and is asked about their reactions. Basically, we like to find out what works and what doesn't work in their decision making process.

The focus group is INVALUABLE in many cases. Often, two, four, five or more separate groups are conducted before we hone our case to its most effective presentation. We take what we learn from each group (and what doesn't work!!) and refine our story, our presentation, and our trial strategy to maximize our outcome.

Like anything, one has to weigh the outcome against the effort, time and money expended. There is a lot of information readily available to competent trial attorneys about what works and what doesn't work in a minor auto accident or other small personal injury case. Because of these factors, we can often benefit from the existing knowledge and experience of our prior cases and fellow attorneys that have gone to trial before us without the necessity of spending all the time and money involved in conducting a focus group.