JUSTIN SEVIER 1145 Chapel Street #200 justin.sevier@yale.edu New Haven, CT 06511 (415) 203-9600 ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS Yale Law School, 2012 present Associate Research Scholar in Law University of Illinois College of Law, 2010 2012 Visiting Assistant Professor of Law EDUCATION Yale University, Ph.D., Psychology, 2015 M.A. and M.Phil., 2013 Advisor: Tom R. Tyler Concentration: Social psychology and law Harvard Law School, J.D. 2006 Magna cum laude (awarded to top 10% of class) First-year coursework at Cornell Law School (Cornell Law Review member) Cornell University, A.B., Psychology, 2003 Distinction honors (GPA: 4.0/4.0) Phi Beta Kappa PUBLICATIONS Testing Tribe s Triangle 103 GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL (forthcoming 2015) Professor Laurence Tribe s testimonial triangle which details the potential limitations of hearsay evidence is cited frequently as a rationale for the rule barring hearsay at trial. Yet no one has examined whether the tenets of the testimonial triangle as they relate to jury behavior are empirically valid. Original studies reported in this article suggest that concerns about juror competency stemming from the testimonial triangle are overstated. The article argues that policymakers should focus on the Sixth Amendment right of confrontation and not dubious claims about juror competency to justify the hearsay rule.
The Truth-Justice Tradeoff 20 PSYCHOLOGY, PUBLIC POLICY, & LAW 212 (2014) (peer-reviewed) Two experiments examine the relationship between notions of accuracy and notions of procedural justice in adversarial and inquisitorial decision making paradigms. The findings suggest that the American adversarial system is perceived as less accurate than the inquisitorial system favored by other countries, but it is also perceived as fairer. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed. Redesigning the Science Court 73 MARYLAND LAW REVIEW 770 (2014) Article argues, with empirical evidence, that a decision maker s legitimacy is largely a function of the decisional accuracy and procedural justice that the decision maker affords litigants. The article argues that earlier proposals for the science court which would remove complex scientific cases from state and federal dockets failed to maximize these orthogonal goals. How Do the Courts Create Popular Legitimacy? 77 ALBANY LAW REVIEW (2014) (invited symposium article with Tom Tyler) Results from an original survey reported in this Article suggest that establishing truth is a distinct psychological goal from attaining justice from the legal system. These concepts instead have parallel influences on perceptions of popular legitimacy. Implications for the legal system are discussed. Omission Suspicion: Juries, Hearsay, and Attorneys Strategic Choices 40 FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW 1 (2012) Six experiments examine whether jurors understand not only that hearsay is potentially weaker evidence than in-court testimony, but also whether they consider the party s motivation for proffering hearsay evidence (and whether that affects their verdicts). Implications for jury decision making, the hearsay doctrine, and trial practitioners are discussed. The Unintended Consequences of Local Rules 21 CORNELL JOURNAL OF LAW AND PUBLIC POLICY 294 (2011) Article examines the effects of decision making biases that may result from the relatively unregulated field of local court rules. An original experiment reported in the article examines the interaction between the vividness bias in the behavioral law and economics literature and the practice of jury notetaking. Transparency, equity, and accuracy concerns vis-à-vis jury decision making are discussed. 2
SELECTED SCHOLARLY PRESENTATIONS Yale Law School, Cultural Cognition Workshop Item Response Theory and Prophet Nathan (February 21, 2014) Yale University Department of Psychology, Faculty Workshop Truth, Justice, and the American Way? (April 29, 2013) Law and Society Association, Annual Member Conference Emotions, Narrative, and Ritual (Panel Chair, June 7, 2012) University of Chicago Law School, Legal Scholarship Workshop Omission Suspicion (October 10, 2011) Michigan State University College of Law, Faculty Workshop Omission Suspicion (September 21, 2011) Vanderbilt University Law School, Ph.D. Program in Law and Economics Seminar Motivation and the Hearsay Doctrine (September 5, 2011) Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Big Ten Untenured Conference Motivation and the Hearsay Doctrine (August 2, 2011) University of Illinois College of Law, Behavioral Law and Economics Seminar Behavioral Biases and Local Court Rules (April 18, 2011) LAW SCHOOL TEACHING EXPERIENCE Social Science Research Methods, Academic Year 2013-2014 Associate Research Scholar, Yale Law School Course familiarizes law students with experimental research design and the interpretation of statistical results (enrollment: 25) (co-taught with Tom Tyler) Scientific Evidence, Spring 2011 & 2012 Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Illinois College of Law Course examined the role and function of scientific and expert evidence in the legal system (enrollment: 50) The American Jury, Fall 2010 & 2011 Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Illinois College of Law Interdisciplinary seminar examined the historical and philosophical underpinnings of the modern American jury and evaluated how jurors make legal decisions (enrollment: 20) 3
OTHER TEACHING EXPERIENCE Psychology and the Law, Summer 2013 & 2014 Special Programs Instructor, Duke University Course provided students in the Duke Talent Identification Program an introduction to key issues in law and psychology, including eyewitnesses, lie detection, jury decision making, and confession evidence (enrollment: 40) Empirical Methods of Legal Analysis, Fall 2005 Teaching Assistant, Harvard Law School (Prof. Joni Hersch) Course provided students with an understanding of quantitative tools commonly used in public policy decisions, legal scholarship, and litigation (enrollment: 50) Cognitive Development, Spring 2003 & 2004 Teaching Assistant, Cornell University (Prof. Qi Wang) Course surveyed current theory and research on various aspects of cognitive development across the lifespan (enrollment: 80) TEACHING INTERESTS Evidence Corporations Criminal Law Civil Procedure Torts Law and Social Science TEACHING HONORS University of Illinois Center for Teaching Excellence List of Illinois Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students 2011: The American Jury 2012: Scientific Evidence WORK EXPERIENCE Yale Law School, New Haven, CT, 2012 present Associate Research Scholar in Law Teach upper-level courses on empirical methods in the law University of Illinois College of Law, Champaign-Urbana, IL, 2010 2012 Visiting Assistant Professor Taught upper-level courses on the American jury and scientific evidence United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, San Francisco, CA, 2009 Law Clerk to Judge Carlos T. Bea Authored bench memoranda and assisted in drafting panel and en banc opinions 4
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, New York, NY, 2008 2009 Corporate Litigation Associate Broad-based experience in securities litigation and white-collar investigations Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, New York, NY, 2006 2008 Corporate Litigation Associate Broad-based experience in commercial, securities, and employment litigation Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General, Boston, MA, 2005 Extern, Criminal Appeals Division Assisted in drafting habeas briefs and authored memoranda on expert witnesses Harvard Program on Empirical Legal Studies, Cambridge, MA, 2004 2005 Research Assistant to Professors Kip Viscusi and Joni Hersch Assisted in research on punitive damages awards and skin-tone discrimination SERVICE EXPERIENCE AND AFFILIATIONS Journal of Empirical Legal Studies (JELS) Referee for submissions pertaining to psychology and the law Jurimetrics: The Journal of Law, Science and Technology Referee for submissions pertaining to juries and scientific evidence New York State Bar Licensed member in good standing ACADEMIC MEMBERSHIPS AND AFFILIATIONS American Psychology-Law Society Interdisciplinary organization devoted to scholarship in psychology and law Grant recipient, Testing Tribe s Triangle (March 1, 2013) Law and Society Association Organization for legal scholarship in social, political, economic and cultural life Society for Empirical Legal Studies International organization of scholars interested in empirical legal studies Society for Personality and Social Psychology Organization for researchers exploring how people think, behave, and interact The Cultural Cognition Project at Yale Law School Laboratory focuses on the role of identity-protective cognition in decision making 5
REFERENCES Tom R. Tyler, Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology Yale Law School 127 Wall Street New Haven, Connecticut 06511 tom.tyler@yale.edu (203) 432-7432 Dan M. Kahan, Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology Yale Law School 127 Wall Street New Haven, Connecticut 06511 dan.kahan@yale.edu (203) 432-8832 Jennifer K. Robbennolt, Professor of Law and Psychology University of Illinois College of Law 504 East Pennsylvania Avenue Champaign, Illinois 61820 jrobbenn@illinois.edu (217) 333-6623 Kenworthey Bilz, Professor of Law and Psychology University of Illinois College of Law 504 East Pennsylvania Avenue Champaign, Illinois 61820 kbilz@illinois.edu (217) 333-0930 W. Kip Viscusi, Professor of Law, Economics, and Management Vanderbilt University Law School 131 21st Avenue South Nashville, Tennessee 37203 kip.viscusi@vanderbilt.edu (615) 343-7715 [Professor/mentor at Harvard Law School] Joni Hersch, Professor of Law and Economics Vanderbilt University Law School 131 21st Avenue South Nashville, Tennessee 37203 joni.hersch@vanderbilt.edu (615) 343-7717 [Professor/mentor at Harvard Law School] 6