The Primary Authority in Decision Making: Attorney David Wenner

David Wenner, M.S.W., J.D. is nationally recognized as an authority on juror bias and decision-making. As a partner in the Phoenix law firm of Snyder & Wenner, P.C., Mr. Wenner has spent the last two decades prosecuting wrongful death and catastrophic injury accident cases, speaking to lawyers across the country on juror bias and decision-making, and creating a successful juror bias model. In his free time, David is a board member of Bosom Buddies, an Arizona non-profit cancer organization.

David A. Wenner
8800 N. Gainey Center Drive, Suite 265
Scottsdale, AZ 85258
(602) 224-0005

Date of Birth: April 10, 1952
Place of Birth: Detroit, Michigan

   

Committees

Honors

• Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society – University of Washington

Research

• Jury Bias ATLA Blue Ribbon Committee
• Tort Reform Rhetoric and Juror Attitudes, 2000–2001, Stanford University, Roscoe Pound Foundation
• Juror Attitudes Post 9/11, ATLA
• Judicial Attitudes on Attorney Conducted Voir Dire

Brief Summary of Some of the Seminars and Colleges (Presentation and Faculty)

• 02/26/94 – ATLA NCA Post-Ultimate College – Charleston, SC – ATLA’s First Focus 03/03/94 Group College; Faculty Member – Lecture – Social Psychology of the Jury Trial
• 04/28/95–05/01/95 – ATLA NCA Post-Ultimate College: Focusing on Your Case – Houston, TX – Faculty – Lecture – Social Psychology
• 11/24/95 – NCA Holiday Golf Classic Seminar: Professional Liability Issues – Pebble Beach, 11/27/95 CA – Lecture – Jury Decision-Making
• 02/23/96 – ATLA NCA Premises Liability: Inadequate Security and Violent Crimes – 02/24/96 Scottsdale, AZ – Lecture – Negligent Hiring and Jury Decisions in Inadequate Security Cases
• 03/01/96–03/04/96 – ATLA NCA Post-Ultimate College: Focusing on Your Case – Arlington, VA – Co-Chair and Faculty
• 07/27/96–07/31/96 – ATLA 1996 Annual Convention: Fighting for Justice By and For the People, Boston, MA – Lecture – Focus Groups for Trial Lawyers
• 10/11/96 – AzTLA Program – The Medical Malpractice Case – Lecture
• 11/08/96 – AzTLA Program – A Day In Court With The Masters – Lecture
• 12/13/96 – AzTLA Program – Arizona’s Top Ten – How They Did It – Lecture
• 02/07/97–02/10/97 – NCA Case Workshop Program – Tucson, AZ – Co-Chair and Faculty
• 02/24/97–02/25/97 – NCA Resort Mega Seminar: Collision Cases, Premises Liability & Persuading Jurors – Las Vegas, NV – Lecture – Juror Bias
• 05/16/97–05/17/97 – ATLA Overcoming Juror Bias – Houston, TX – Co-Created and Co-Chaired Lecture – Jury Bias
• 07/18/97–07/23/97 – ATLA 1997 Annual Convention – San Diego, CA – Lecture – Persuasion
• 07/97 – State Bar of Arizona – CLE By The Sea – Faculty – Sneak Preview Into a Jury Room – Lecture and Demonstration of Jury Deliberation
• 09/18/97–09/21/97 – ATLA Case Workshop Program – Atlanta, GA – Faculty Member
• 09/26/97–09/27/97 – ATLA Overcoming Juror Bias – Chicago, IL – Chair and Faculty – Lecture – Jury Bias, Conducted Focus Group
• 10/31/97–11/01/97 – NCA Mega Seminar: TBI, Medicine, Employment; Plenary: Overcoming Juror Bias – Reno, NV – Lecture – Jury Bias
• 01/16/98–01/19/98 – Medical Trial Skills College – Arizona State University College of Law, Tempe, AZ – Faculty Member, Conducted Live Focus Group
• 02/21/98–02/25/98 – ATLA 1998 Winter Convention – Maui, HI – Lecture – Juror Judgment and Decision-Making
• 03/13/98–03/14/98 – ATLA Overcoming Juror Bias – Salt Lake City, UT – Chair and Faculty – Lecture – Jury Bias, Conducted Live Focus Group
• 04/23/98–04/26/98 – ATLA Case Workshop Program – Santa Fe, NM – Faculty
• 10/98 – AzTLA Program – Overcoming Juror Bias in Voir Dire – Chair and Faculty – Lecture – Juror Decision-Making
• 12/12/98–12/13/98 – ATLA 1998 Weekend with the Stars – New York, NY – Lecture – Jury Decision-Making
• 02/26/99–02/27/99 – ATLA Doubleheader: Litigating Catastrophically Injured Infant Cases; Premises Liability: Inadequate Security – Phoenix, AZ – Faculty Voir Dire
• 04/09/99–04/10/99 – ATLA New Frontiers in Overcoming Juror Bias – Jupiter, FL – Chair and Faculty Lecture – Jury Bias, Conducted Live Focus Group
• 04/21/99–04/25/99 – ATLA Case Workshop Program – Minneapolis, MN – Faculty
• 07/17/99–07/21/99 – ATLA Annual Convention – San Francisco, CA – Focus Group Demonstration
• 10/09/99–10/11/99 – NCA Trial Advocacy College: Voir Dire – Phoenix, AZ – Co-Chair and Faculty
• 02/04/00–02/05/00 – ATLA Overcoming Juror Bias – Phoenix, AZ – Co-Chair and Faculty – Lecture – Jury Bias
• 02/25/00–02/26/00 – ATLA Litigating Catastrophically Injured Infant Cases From a Trial Lawyer’s Perspective – Atlanta, GA – Lecture – Jury Bias in Catastrophically Injured Infant Cases
• 03/17/00–03/18/00 – ATLA Litigating Employment Cases From a Trial Lawyer’s Perspective – Las Vegas, NV – Lecture – Juror Judgment and Decision-Making in Employment Cases
• 07/27/00–08/02/00 – ATLA Annual Convention – Chicago, IL – Lecture – New Frontiers in Juror Bias
• 10/22/00 – Nevada Trial Lawyers Annual Convention – Lecture – Jury Bias
• 11/10/00 – ABOTA Seminar – Lecture – Focus Groups
• 12/10/00–12/11/00 – ATLA Weekend With The Stars – New York, NY – Co-Chair and Faculty Lecture – Jury Decision-Making and Bias
• 1/10/01 – Faculty ATLA’s Medical Trial Skills College – Miami, FL
• 3/01 – Faculty ATLA’s Overcoming Juror Bias College – Atlanta, GA
• 4/01 – Lectured on Juror Bias, Michigan State Bar – Troy, MI
• 5/01 – Faculty in house Continue Legal Education for the Law Firm Jones, Day – Tucson, AZ
• 7/01 – State Bar of Arizona CLE by the Sea Half Day Program, Jury Psychology, with Howard Nations – San Diego, CA
• 7/01 – ATLA’s Annual Convention Lecture with Stanford Psychology Professor Lee Ross on Psychology for Lawyers – Montreal, Canada
• 9/01 – Faculty ATLA Overcoming Juror Bias Seminar, Multiple Lectures on the Juror Bias Model – Las Vegas, NV
• 10/01 – North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers Annual Meeting, New Frontiers in Juror Bias – Birmingham, AL
• 01/02 – Full day presentation State Bar of Arizona, Jury Psychology with Howard Nations – Phoenix, AZ
• 2/02 – Faculty, Overcoming Jury Bias College, ATLA – Coronado, CA
• 5/02 – Presentation, Jury Bias, Kentucky Trial Lawyers Association, Louisville, KY
• 5/02 – Faculty, Overcoming Jury Bias Seminar, ATLA-Las Vegas, NV
• 6/02 – Keynote Lecture – National Employment Lawyer Association Annual Conference, Juror Bias, Orlando, FL
• 9/02 – Faculty – Overcoming Juror Bias Seminar -Philadelphia, PA
• 10/02 – Faculty, ATLA Trial Advocacy College, Direct and Cross-Examination – Phoenix, AZ
• 11/02 – Lecture, Jury Bias, Iowa Trial Lawyers Association, Des Moines, IA
• 2/03 – Faculty, ATLA Overcoming Juror Bias College, Phoenix, AZ
• 4/03 – Lecture, Jury Bias, Iowa Trial Lawyers Association, Des Moines, IA
• 7/03 – Jury Psychology, ATLA Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA
• 8/03 – Persuasion, Colorado Trail Lawyers, Vail, CO
• 9/03 – Speaker, Jury Bias, Michigan Trial Lawyers Association, Farmington, MI
• 12/03 – Speaker, Psyching Yourself Up For Trial, ATLA’s Weekend With The Stars, New York, NY
• 4/04 – Faculty, Exposing, Attacking & Defeating Juror Bias, ATLA, Las Vegas, NV
• 3/04 – Faculty, Ultimate Course: Art of Persuasion, Harvard Law School, ATLA, Cambridge, MA
• 4/04 – Co-Chair, Overcoming Jury Bias Seminar, ATLA, Las Vegas, NV
• 4/04 – Faculty, Jury Bias, Washington State Trial Lawyers, Tacoma, WA
• 5/04 – Co-Chair and Presentation on Jury Bias, Arizona Trial Lawyer Annual Conference
• 5/04 – Faculty, Seminar on Jury Decision-Making for the Ontario Trial Lawyers, Toronto, Canada
• 7/04 – Presentation, Jury Psychology, Trial Advocacy, ATLA Annual Convention, Boston, MA
• 11/04 – Faculty, Jury Decision Making, ATLA Mediterranean Cruise: An Italian Aria, Venice, Italy
• 12/04 – Speaker, ATLA’s 18th Annual Weekend with the Stars, New York, NY
• 1/05 – Faculty, ATLA’s Overcoming Jury Bias in Complex Cases Seminar, Miami Beach, FL
• 2/05 – Focus Group Demonstration, AAJ’s Medical Trial Skills College, Scottsdale, AZ
• 3/05 – Faculty, ATLA’s The Ultimate Trial Advocacy Course, Georgetown Law School, Washington D.C.
• 5/05 – Presentation, Jury Bias, Nevada Trial Lawyer Seminar, Las Vegas, NV
• 7/05 – Speaker, Jury decision making, CLE by the Sea, San Diego, CA, State Bar of Arizona
• 7/05 – Presentation on Jury Psychology, 2005 ATLA’s Annual Convention, Toronto, Ontario
• 11/05 – Faculty, ATLA’S Overcoming Juror Bias College Part I, Atlanta, GA
• 2/06 – Presentation, Jury Bias, ATLA’s Winter Convention, Honolulu, HI
• 3/06 – Faculty, ATLA’s Overcoming Jury Bias Seminar, Las Vegas, NV
• 3/06 – Half Day Presentation, Overcoming Jury Bias, Wyoming Trial Lawyers, Jackson Hole, WY
• 6/06 – Presentation, Communication with Conservative Jurors, Attorney Information Exchange Group, Denver, CO
• 7/06 – Presentation, Jury Decision Making, ATLA’s Annual Conference, Seattle, WA
• 9/06 – Faculty, ATLA’s Psychology of Persuasion, Atlanta, GA
• 10/06 – Faculty, ATLA’s Overcoming Juror Bias College, Atlanta, GA
• 2/07 – Presentation, Trial Story Framing in Birth Trauma Cases, AAJ’s Litigating Injured Infants Seminar, Tucson, AZ
• 3/07 – Faculty, Overcoming Jury Bias, Alabama Trial Lawyers, Birmingham, AL
• 6//07 – Half Day Presentation, Jury Bias, Oklahoma Trial Lawyers, Las Vegas, NV
• 7/07 – Presentation, New Frontiers in Jury Bias, Trial Advocacy, Annual Conference, American Association for Justice, Chicago, IL
• 7/07 – Presentation, Jury Selection in Traumatic Brain Injury Cases, Annual Conference, American Association for Justice, Chicago, IL
• 8/07 – Presentation, Jury Decision Making in Auto Defect Cases, Attorney Information Exchange Group, Santa Fe, NM
• 10/07 – Presentation, The Unconscious and Jury Decision Making, Annual Conference, Arizona Trial Lawyers, Scottsdale, AZ
• 10/07 – Presentation, Jury Selection, Maricopa County Superior Court Judges, Mesa, AZ
• 11/07 – Faculty, AAJ’S New Avenues to Justice: The Art and Science of Persuasion, Las Vegas, NV
• 1/08 – Presentation and Demonstration, Focus Groups and Jury Bias, New Mexico Trial Lawyers, Albuquerque, NM
• 2/08 – Presentation, Focus Groups, Defective Drug Seminar, AAJ, Las Vegas, NV
• 3/08 – Presentation, Jury Bias Model, The Juror and the Unconscious, OJB Seminar, AAJ, Phoenix, AZ
• 4/08 – Presentation, AIEG Seminar, Seattle, WA
• 12/08 – 2008 Case Plus: The Next Step In Developing
• 2/09 – Presenter AAJ Mid-Winter Convention Maui, HI
• 4/09 – Presentation, Nurse Legal Consulting Annual Conference, Glendale, AZ
• 4/09 – Presentation, AAJ Medical Negligence Conference
• 8/09 – Presentation, Kentucky Justice Association Annual Conference, French Lick, IN
• 1/10 – Presentation, California Consumer Trial Lawyer Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA
• 7/10 – Presentation, AAJ Annual Conference, Vancouver, B.C.
• 8/10 – Presentation Oregon/Washington Trial Lawyer Annual Conference
• 3/11 – Faculty AAJ’s Ultimate Trial Advocacy Course: Art of Persuasion
• 7/11 – Presenter AAJ Annual Convention, New York, NY
• 2/12 – Presenter, AAJ Mid-Winter Convention, Jury Selection, Biltmore Hotel, Phoenix, AZ
• 3/12 – Faculty AAJ Ultimate Trial Advocacy Course, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA
• 3/12 – Chair and Faculty, Jury Bias Model 2: Applying the Principles from Discovery to Closing, Las Vegas, NV
• 6/12 – Presentation, Florida Workhorse Seminar, Orlando, FL
• 7/12 – Presentation, Thinking about Juror Thinking, AAJ Annual Conference Common Juror Attitudes; Chicago, IL
• 7/13 – Presentation AAJ Annual Conference San Francisco, Using Rules to Frame Juror Decisions
• 12/13 – Chair and Presenter, 2013 Weekend With The Stars New York, NY
• 3/14 – Co-Chair and Presenter AAJ Case Framing Seminar, Scottsdale, AZ
• 3/14 – Co-Chair and Presenter AAJ Skiing With The Stars Seminar, Park City, UT
• 4/14 – Chair and Presentation, Psychology of Voir Dire; Arizona Trial Lawyers, Phoenix, AZ
• 6/14 – Conduct 1 Day Seminar on Jury Decision Making with Gregory S. Cusimano, Texas Trial Lawyers, Austin, TX
• 7/14 – Presentation, AAJ Annual Conference Assimilating Focus Group Data
• 9/14 – Presentation, AAJ Rules of the Road in Medical Negligence Cases, Santa Fe, NM
• 11/14 – Presentation and Co-Chair AAJ, Case Framing, Atlanta, GA

Articles

• Wenner, D., “Anchoring A Tool For Trial Lawyers”, July 2013, Proceedings of AAJ Annual Convention
• Jenson, R. and Wenner, D, “Through the Eyes of a Juror”, Trial Magazine July 2013
• Wenner, D, “Are Jurors Influenced By What They Wish To Believe?”, JuryBIasBlog.com, April 2011
• Wenner, D and Cusimano, G, “Reframing the Model”, Trial Magazine, March 2008
• Wenner, D., “Book Review, Scientific Jury Selection”, Trial Magazine, March 2007
• “Personal Reflection Regarding Juror Bias”, Trial Magazine, July 2004,
• Letter to the Editor, Wall Street Journal, “Companies on Trial Play Blame-the-Plaintiff Card”, January 20, 2004
• Wenner, D.; Conlin, R.B., Cusimano, G. (editors), “Jury Bias”, ATLA’s Litigating Tort Cases, Chapter 35, (West & ATLA, 2003)
• Wenner, D. and Cusimano, G., “Combating Juror Bias”, Trial, P 30, June 2000
• Wenner, D., “Preparing for Trial: An Uncommon Approach” Trial, P. 62, January 1998
• Gilbert, J., Ollanik, S. and Wenner, D., “Overcoming Juror Bias in Voir Dire”, Trial, P. 42 July 1997
• Wenner, D. “Communication Skills in the Courtroom Summation”, Arizona Trial Lawyers, P. 4, Fall 1985
• Wenner, D. and Swanson, S., “Sensory Language in the Courtroom”, Trial Diplomacy
• Journal, P. 13, Winter 1981