Selecting and Preparing Your Best Defense Witnesses

Rich Matthews, trial consultant and California attorney, received his J.D. from the University of Oregon School Of Law. Kind of a “mythbuster” for a lot of the widespread but often incorrect lawyer beliefs about jurors and jury selection, Rich combines research with psychology with artistic craft to get the best results from jurors. His expertise includes separating jury issues from the legal issues; crafting the themes and frames that will shape juror perception of a case; writing openings and closings like people actually speak; witness preparation; and all things related to jury selection from juror questionnaires and voir dire questions to exercising cause and peremptory challenges. Rich has innovated the use of focus group results at mediations and in negotiations to achieve better settlements in a shorter time than clients had experienced without them.
Rich has achieved successful results for both plaintiffs and defendants in the civil world, and prosecutors and defendants in criminal cases.
Rich has appeared on national television and in major publications offering commentary on high profile trials. He serves on the California Bar’s Litigation Section’s committee for comment on proposed revisions to California’s standard jury instructions, lending his juror expertise to improving the understandability and clarity of jury instructions.
Rich lives in San Francisco and works nationwide.