Dr. Kelloir Smith is the Director of Research and Senior Litigation Consultant at Blueprint Trial Consulting Los Angeles office. Dr. Smith is an expert in juror decision making and persuasive communications and has extensive experience with a wide range of complex commercial litigation and white collar defense. She assists attorneys with traditional and online jury research, theme development, trial strategies, witness communication training, opening statement development, and jury selection. With nearly twenty years of jury research and consulting practice, she has worked on hundreds of focus groups, mock trials, online jury surveys, juror profiling studies, jury selections, post-trial juror interviews, and trials throughout the country. She collaborates with her clients to develop tailored research to address the unique issues involved in their cases and to optimize the effectiveness of the insights gleaned from the research. Through these engagements, she provides strategic recommendations and leverages empirical findings from both academic and case specific research. She utilizes her specialized training and experience in research methodology, data analysis and the study of juror psychology to provide insights to assist her trial team while successfully resolving their matters.
Dr. Smith has an interdisciplinary background in behavioral, social, and cognitive psychology, research design, and advanced statistical analysis. She has been a speaker at numerous professional conferences and CLE presentations. She is based out of Los Angeles, a native Los Angeleno, and fluent in Spanish. Dr. Smith has a Ph.D. in Cognition, Brain, and Behavior from City University of New York Graduate Center, a Master of Arts in Experimental Psychology from California State University San Marcos, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of California San Diego.
Complex Business Litigation and Contract Disputes
Extensive experience in cases involving business disputes, breaches of contract, insurance coverage, allegations of fraud, and misappropriation of funds. Worked on several cases involving construction disputes and allegations of False Claims Act violations by individual plaintiffs on behalf of public entities.
Intellectual Property
Conducted jury research, advised on graphics, prepared fact and expert witnesses, and assisted with jury selection for patent infringement matters in areas involving hardware, software, mobile apps, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, laboratory technology, automobile technology, boat technology, and gaming technology. Also worked on cases involving allegations of trademark and trade dress infringement.
Labor and Employment Defense
Conducted jury research, advised on graphics, prepared fact and expert witnesses, and assisted with jury selection in numerous cases involving claims of discrimination (race, age, sex, sexual orientation, and disability), sexual harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, and wage and hour claims on behalf of companies in a variety of industries.
Product Liability
Extensive experience conducting jury research and jury selections for matters involving asbestos, medical devices, and many other products regarding allegations of defective manufacture, defective design, and failure to adequately warn claims.
Securities Litigation
Consulted on cases stemming from large-scale investment fraud schemes, Ponzi scheme, mortgage-backed securities-related cases, securities and consumer finance class actions, and SEC and bank regulatory investigations and enforcement actions.
Professional Negligence and Malpractice
Conducted jury research for numerous cases involving professional negligence and malpractice in the medical and legal field, as well as cases alleging breach of fiduciary duty.
Trade Secrets
Assisted on several cases involving allegations of tortious interference, unfair competition, unfair business practices, and the misappropriation of trade secrets.
Toxic Tort
Worked on multiple cases involving exposure to allegedly carcinogenic substances, as well as manufacturing by-products and containment failures.
White Collar Crime / Criminal Defense
Conducted jury research and assisted with jury selection in several cases involving securities fraud, consumer fraud, mail and wire fraud, and money laundering, some of which involved high-profile defendants. Extensive study of the effects of pre-trial publicity on juror decision making in criminal cases.