Dr. Ellen L. Leggett, Ed.D. – Founder
Ellen L. Leggett, Ed.D. is a pioneering trial consultant with over 35 years of experience working with civil trial lawyers. She was trained at Litigation Sciences, Inc., and served as Director of the Los Angeles Trial Consulting practice until 1996 before founding Leggett Jury Research L.L.C. Dr. Leggett is nationally known for her expertise in assisting trial lawyers and witnesses in complex, high-stakes cases. She designs, conducts, and interprets case-specific empirical research on juror decision-making and specializes in strategic and educationally sound approaches to case presentation for optimal juror comprehension. Dr. Leggett’s philosophy is based on the belief that jurors are competent to hear complex litigation if courtroom communication acknowledges their learning needs. Her consulting, therefore, emphasizes the importance of effective opening statements, the use of visual and memory aids at trial, and concise expert testimony.
Dr. Leggett's clients have included individuals, companies, and organizations from most major industries, including accounting, aerospace, automobile, banking, construction, education, entertainment, health care, insurance, law, media, petroleum, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, technology, real estate, and retail, as well as non-profit organizations and government agencies. She has assisted clients in all major areas of litigation, including the Alien Torts Act, antitrust, contracts, defamation, environmental, employment, intellectual property, lender liability, product liability, securities fraud, theft of trade secrets, wrongful death, professional negligence (accounting, legal, actuarial) and white collar crime. She has also served as a court-appointed witness psychologist in the Ninth Circuit for a criminal drug and RICO case that was won at trial for the defendant.
She has published and spoken widely on jury psychology and has been interviewed on ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN national newscasts. Her articles have appeared in Antitrust Report, Computer Lawyer, International Legal Strategy, Product Liability Law and Claims, California Litigation, Medical Malpractice Law and Strategy, and Corporate Legal Times. She was on the Editorial Board of the Antitrust Report.
Dr. Leggett has also established a career as a university professor, researcher, and administrator at Cornell University, Scripps College, the University of California, Riverside, and USC. Her academic published works are in the areas of motivation and mindset, social cognition, and the differences between lay and expert reasoning. In July 2022, she retired from higher education after nine years of developing an innovative graduate program. She was a Professor of the Practice of Psychology at the University of Southern California and Director of the Master of Science in Applied Psychology program there. Focusing on organizational and consumer psychology, the program prepares students to use the research tools of psychology to address global business challenges.
Dr. Leggett earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology and education at Harvard University and her A.B. degree magna cum laude in psychology at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. She is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the American Society of Trial Consultants.
She has published and spoken widely on jury psychology and has been interviewed on ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN national newscasts. Her articles have appeared in Antitrust Report, Computer Lawyer, International Legal Strategy, Product Liability Law and Claims, California Litigation, Medical Malpractice Law and Strategy, and Corporate Legal Times. She was on the Editorial Board of the Antitrust Report.
Dr. Leggett has also established a career as a university professor, researcher, and administrator at Cornell University, Scripps College, the University of California, Riverside, and USC. Her academic published works are in the areas of motivation and mindset, social cognition, and the differences between lay and expert reasoning. In July 2022, she retired from higher education after nine years of developing an innovative graduate program. She was a Professor of the Practice of Psychology at the University of Southern California and Director of the Master of Science in Applied Psychology program there. Focusing on organizational and consumer psychology, the program prepares students to use the research tools of psychology to address global business challenges.
Dr. Leggett earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology and education at Harvard University and her A.B. degree magna cum laude in psychology at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. She is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the American Society of Trial Consultants.
Stephanie D. Vollowitz, MBA – Senior Consultant
Stephanie Vollowitz is a Senior Trial Consultant with over 15 years of experience working with civil and criminal trial lawyers. She first worked with Dr. Leggett at Litigation Sciences, Inc., and later worked at both FTI and JRI. Stephanie has successfully collaborated with Dr. Leggett on numerous national, high-profile cases and has particular expertise in pharmaceutical, environmental, and accounting cases. Stephanie designs research questionnaires to assess jurors’ pre-existing attitudes and experiences as well as probe their perceptions of case issues. She brings her analytic skills to the task of interpreting data-driven results for strategic consideration. Stephanie believes jurors unfailingly find the “crux of the matter” in any case and that they are capable of understanding complex cases if provided concise, effective arguments and visual aids. Her brisk and incisive moderating skills have made her a favorite of mock jurors and won critical acclaim from clients as well.
Stephanie earned her MBA in marketing and management at Pennsylvania State University and her BA in psychology at the University of California at Berkeley. Stephanie’s background in corporate marketing provides unique insights into the challenge of persuading jurors to see the corporate point of view at trial.
Stephanie earned her MBA in marketing and management at Pennsylvania State University and her BA in psychology at the University of California at Berkeley. Stephanie’s background in corporate marketing provides unique insights into the challenge of persuading jurors to see the corporate point of view at trial.