Episode 1 – The Volkswagen Crisis (What Makes a Company Apology Believable To Jurors?)

Welcome to 5-Minute EDGE, a brand new podcast from EDGE Litigation Consulting. We developed this podcast because we want to keep our clients up to speed on the latest thinking in persuading juries. We know your time is valuable, so every podcast episode will (hopefully) be five minutes or less.

In this episode, we have Dr. Mark Sobus of EDGE, and we’re discussing some implications of the Volkswagen crisis. Most people are familiar with the fact that Volkswagen has been sued for allegedly faking emissions results on its cars, and many people know that Volkswagen has already offered a public apology for its behavior. This crisis got us thinking about when and how a company should apologize for its conduct at trial. Specifically, we’ll address two questions:
1. What kind of company apology do jurors want to hear?
2. Does a well-done company apology produce any benefits for defendants at trial?