Laura Niemi

Dr. Laura Niemi is a jury consultant and social psychologist with expertise in moral and causal judgment, responsibility attribution, and communication.

Dr. Niemi’s educational background includes a Ph.D. in Social Psychology & Social Neuroscience from Boston College, where her dissertation examined the psychological causes and correlates of diverse moral values; a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University sponsored by the National Science Foundation where she investigated how linguistic cues of causation map onto individual differences in values; and a fellowship in neuroscience and ethics at Duke University, where she empirically modeled how people respond to feedback on their testimony. Dr. Niemi also completed Master’s- level training in mental health counseling and has worked with children and families who experienced crime and loss.

Dr. Niemi brings to Magna a distinctive empirical approach informed by over a decade of research and teaching at leading institutions. As Assistant Professor at Cornell University (Department of Psychology and SC Johnson College of Business) and at the University of Toronto (Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy), and as teaching fellow at Harvard University and Boston College, Dr. Niemi has educated hundreds of students in social and moral psychology, and advised trainees’ doctoral research as director of Cornell’s Applied Moral Psychology Lab. Dr. Niemi has won awards and grants for her research on the psychological sources of moral and ethical decision-making from the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Health, the National Endowment for the Humanities, private foundations, and academic societies, and has delivered over 100 presentations at major conferences and universities. Dr. Niemi has authored over 40 publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and white papers, on topics including blame and causation, moral language, bias, and the psychology of fairness. Her work has been featured in top journals (e.g., Cognition, Psychological Science) and covered by media outlets including The New York Times, Scientific American, The Guardian, and The Atlantic.

In litigation research and education, Dr. Niemi is passionate about the use of effective visuals and concise narratives to communicate complex topics to jurors. Her insights are grounded in her record of academic research and applied analysis of how jurors and decision-makers reason about responsibility, harm, and justice. Her recent consulting engagements include translating behavioral science findings into litigation strategy recommendations on negligence, corporate responsibility, causation, and blame attribution. Dr. Niemi is a member of the American Society of Trial Consultants, the Society for Philosophy and Psychology, and the Academy of Management. Her deep experience in experimental design, data analysis, and narrative framing makes her a trusted advisor in high-stakes litigation involving complex moral and psychological themes.