Melissa Gomez, PhD

Melissa M. Gomez, PhD, brings three decades of experience in psychology, education, and litigation strategy to her role as Senior Jury Consulting Advisor at IMS Legal Strategies. She is a nationally recognized litigation consultant known for her trusted relationships with clients and her unwavering commitment to their success.

Dr. Gomez has consulted on more than 1,000 jury trials, drawing on her expertise in learning, behavior, and decision-making to help trial teams shape strategy and understand how jurors think. She collaborates with trial counsel from the outset of litigation through resolution, offering focused support in discovery planning, trial preparation, and juror engagement. Her specialties include conducting mock trials and focus groups, preparing witnesses to communicate with confidence, assisting with jury selection, and developing winning trial strategies.

She is the author of Jury Trials Outside-In: Leveraging Psychology from Discovery to Decision (LexisNexis/NITA) and The Witness Preparation Partner: A Guide to Becoming the Ready Messenger, in addition to articles that have appeared in Law360, The Legal Intelligencer, For the Defense, The Jury Expert, and publications of the American Bar Association (ABA). She has also appeared as a jury expert on CNN, NPR, MSNBC, NBC, and FOX29 and contributed expert commentary to pieces in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Baltimore Sun.

Dr. Gomez served on the faculty of Temple University’s Beasley School of Law LLM Program for ten years, where she taught courses on witness preparation and jury psychology. She is a sought-after CLE speaker, having presented for organizations such as the ABA, the National Seminar for Federal Defenders, and the Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference.

A Philadelphia native, Dr. Gomez resides in Chestnut Hill with her husband, twin sons, and their Havanese, Poochini.

Education

• PhD, Psychology, University of Pennsylvania
• MEd, Education, University of Pennsylvania
• BA, Psychology, Loyola University Maryland

Notable Publications and Presentations

• Gomez, M., PhD, & Dominic, C. (2024). Want to Improve Credibility? Embrace Your Witness’s Humanity. Insights.
• Gomez, M.M.; Amrom, A.; Inners, K. (March 2022). “Making the Case for Cause Strikes.” American Bar Association.
• Gomez, M.M. (April 5, 2021). “The Winds of Change: The 2020 Effect on Juror Perceptions.” The Legal Intelligencer. https://www.law.com/thelegalin...;
• Gomez, M.M. (June 11, 2020). “Embracing the Uncertainty of the Post-COVID Trial.” The Legal Intelligencer. https://www.law.com/thelegalin...;
• Gomez, M.M. (February 21, 2019). “Taming the Feels: Juror Emotion in Catastrophic Injury Trials.” American Bar Association. https://www.americanbar.org/gr...;
• Gomez, M.M. (2018). The Witness Preparation Partner: A Guide to Becoming the Ready Messenger.
• Gomez, M.M. (February 2018). “Power, Corruption and Lies: How Juries are Responding.” Law360. https://www.law360.com/article...;
• Gomez, M.M. (August 2017). “Keeping up with the Modern Jury.” The Legal Intelligencer (256), 43.
• Gomez, M.M. (2016). Jury Trials Outside In: Leveraging Psychology from Discovery to Decision (1st ed.). Aspen Publishing.