Practical Jury Dynamics2

Dr. SunWolf is a juryologist. She has been fascinated with jurors (and their imperfect worlds) since her first trial. A veteran of many roles within the American justice system (law school faculty, civil litigation attorney, Training Director for Colorado's Public Defender System, full-time appellate lawyer, trial consultant)--a moment of epiphany during a death penalty trial pushed her back to graduate school, where she completed both Master's and Doctoral degrees in Interpersonal and Group Communication from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Now Professor of Communication at Santa Clara University, California, she teaches courses in relationships, group dynamics, friendships & romance, persuasion, storytelling, and the science of happiness. Her published research on jurors and children's peer groups has won national awards. Her books include Practical Jury Dynamics2: From One Juror's Trial Perceptions to the Group's Decision-Making Processes (LexisNexis). A translator of social science research for trial practitioners, Dr. SunWolf lectures at continuing legal education programs throughout the country. She is a 20-plus-year faculty member of the National Criminal Defense College. She is the originator of Decisional Regret Theory, which explains how jurors attempt to reduce the anxiety of anticipated verdict-regret by using counterfactual what-if and if-only imagined narratives. Professor SunWolf is also a Visiting Professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, annually teaching "449: Jury Law & Strategies"--devoted to thinking about a juror's complex trial task.

The American Society of Trial Consultants gave Dr. SunWolf their national service award for career dedication to pro bono work. Her book Practical Jury Dynamics2 received the Ernest Bormann Book Award from the National Communication Association for most outstanding scholarly book in the previous two years about group communication. In 2008, Dr. SunWolf received her university's research award, recognizing the tenured professor whose scholarly work over the previous five years best represents a major contribution to a field of knowledge. On Twitter® Dr. SunWolf shares new studies on social behavior: @TheSocialBrain was named by the Huffington Post as one of 30 high-profile scientists who tweet about neuroscience. She also tweets about jury law, strategies, and events as @JuryTalk. Web: ProfessorSunwolf.com