Defense communications in MDL venues is not accidental. SEO campaigns run in the venue city before the bellwether is assigned. Local media relationships are cultivated. Community narrative is shaped. When the jury pool assembles for voir dire, they have been reading a version of this case for eighteen months. That version was written by the defense. The plaintiff bar rarely knows it is happening.
In a mass tort case in a Southern federal district, VIS conducted a venue communications audit six months before the bellwether trial date. The audit identified three active defense-placed narratives in local media, two FTI-connected community voices active in local civic organizations, and a pattern of defense-favorable search results for every relevant search term in the venue. Counsel adjusted voir dire strategy, theme development, and local media outreach accordingly.
VIS monitors and counters defense communications activity in MDL bellwether venues. What potential jurors in the venue are seeing. What SEO is running in the venue. What community narrative has been shaped in the venue before voir dire. What local voices have been activated. VENUE delivers the full picture of the jury pool’s information environment before the first juror is questioned.