Expert Witness & Litigation Support

Summary

Dr. Edward T. Rincón brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from his 40 years as a practicing research professional throughout the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico. He is familiar with the nuances of statistics and research methodology, especially as applied to complex issues involving culturally-diverse communities.  His research practice has produced numerous studies for Fortune 500 companies and public agencies in diverse industries, while his publications and insights have been cited in various national publications. In addition, Dr. Rincón’s professional practice has been complemented by various teaching assignments at Dallas-area universities related to statistics, survey research, mass communications, and Hispanic marketing.  With this solid background, Dr. Rincón has provided the legal community sound advice through expert witness testimony, depositions, expert reporting, and testimony before the Texas State Bar.  In his book – The Culture of Research – to be released  in November of 2018, Dr. Rincón discusses the varied problems and solutions related to the design, execution and analysis of surveys that involve diverse communities. .

Education
  • Ph.D., Educational Psychology – The University of Texas at Austin, 1979
  • M.S., School Psychology – The University of Texas at Austin, 1978
  • Master’s Certificate Geographic Information Systems – The University of Texas at Dallas, 2018
  • B.S.,  Psychology – Southern Methodist University, 1975
  • Advanced seminars in sampling theory, multivariate statistical analyses, and demography
Employment Experience
  • President, Rincón & Associates LLC, Dallas Texas, 1988 to present:  Primarily responsible for marketing, design, execution and analysis of research projects targeted to general and ethnic markets utilizing survey research, focus groups, and analysis of demographic information. Conduct seminars on such topics as marketing, accessing and analyzing Census data, demographic trends, testing bias, multicultural advertising and marketing trends, and statistical concepts.
  • Institutional Research Analyst, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, 1982-1987:  Conducted research and statistical studies regarding personnel issues, affirmation action planning, and student affairs.
  • Research Coordinator, National Council of La Raza (NCLR) in Washington, D.C., 1980-1982:  Coordinated and supervised ten doctoral research teams contracted to analyze major national surveys on the education and employment outcomes of the U.S. Hispanic youth population.  Engaged in extensive proposal preparation and represented agency before governmental agencies.
Expert Witness Experience
  • Dallas County:  Prepared an expert report to evaluate the methodology of experimental research conducted for a trade secret infringement case.
  • Lubbock County:  Prepared an expert report that assessed the reliability and validity of a public opinion telephone survey of Lubbock County residents that evaluated their perceptions of key issues in a product injury case.
  • Dallas County:  Testified in federal court regarding survey research methodology in culturally-diverse markets and trade secrets related to a unique survey methodology.
  • Dallas County:  Testified in a murder trial to address a change-of-venue issue by comparing  the extent to which the jury pool represented the race-ethnic composition of Dallas County.
  • Dallas County: Prepared an expert report that compared three methods for enumerating the Hispanic population in Dallas County to determine if the jury summons pool reflected the race-ethnic composition of Dallas County.
  • Austin, Texas:  Testified before the Texas State Bar committee on attorney advertising regarding the findings of focus group research that we had conducted among Texas consumers regarding their reactions to testimonial vs. non-testimonial forms of attorney advertising.
  • Dallas, Texas:  Deposition made in a case regarding theft of competitive sales strategies between a Spanish-language radio station and a Spanish-language television station.
  • Dallas, Texas:  Deposition made in a case involving a contract dispute between an entertainment venue and an exhibitor.
  • Austin, Texas:  Testified before a Texas legislative committee on Hispanic education and demographic trends
Litigation Support Experience
  • Dallas County: Conducted survey research for a product liability case to evaluate the comprehension levels of various hazard warning labels in laundry equipment among Korean and African American women.
  • Texas:  In a court-ordered study of Texas Medicaid participants, our survey research team conducted 6,000 surveys to evaluate the effectiveness of five distinct communication strategies.
  • Dallas County:  Conducted mock juries and community surveys for a litigation consultant in several cases over a 10-year period that resulted in successful case settlements related to divorce, child custody and product liability issues.
  • U.S.: Conducted a brand confusion survey for a gourmet salsa brand as an exploratory measure to avoid potential confusion in the marketplace.
Litigation Support Areas
  • Depositions
  • Expert reports
  • Mock jury recruitment
  • Survey research to assess brand share, competitive analysis, brand confusion
  • Experimental research to evaluate cause-effect relationships
  • Compilation and management of large data files
  • Statistical analysis
  • Demographic analysis of Census data for jury analysis
  • Critique of research studies to identify sources of bias
  • Evaluation of mass media and advertising issues
  • Analysis of cultural issues related to language usage, ethnic identity, and values
  • Production of charts, exhibits, and presentations
Other Professional Experience
  • Over the past 36 years, Dr. Rincón has been responsible for the design, execution and analysis of various studies that addressed high-stakes decisions for private and public organizations.
  • These studies have included a broad range of industries, including marketing and advertising; mass communications; healthcare; political behavior; economic development; race-ethnic discrimination in testing, employment and public contracting; pharmaceuticals; retail; high technology; telecommunications; food and beverages;  and others.
  • About half of these studies have involved multicultural segments of the population, such as Latinos, African Americans, and Asians.  Other special segments have included immigrants, children, senior citizens, and non-English speaking groups.
Teaching History
  • Statistics, Graduate School of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, 2010
  • Mass Communications Research:  School of Journalism, The University of North Texas, 2009- 2010
  • Hispanic Marketing: Cox School of Business MBA Program, Southern Methodist University, 2004-2006.
  • Hispanic Marketing: School of Business, The University of Texas at Arlington, 2003.
  • Contemporary Hispanic Research Trends:  Department of Sociology, Southern Methodist University, 1991-1993.
  • Survey Analysis:  Department of Political Economy in Graduate School, The University of Texas at Dallas, 1993.
  • Research in Education:  Department of Bilingual Education, Southern Methodist University, 1992.
  • Workshops and Seminars:  Over the past 34 years, Dr. Rincón has provided workshops and seminars to the public on such topics as principles of Hispanic marketing, multicultural advertising and demographic trends, measurement bias, SPSS analytic skills, retrieving and analyzing Census data, relevant trends for the real estate industry, Latinos and environmental issues, and various other topics.
Legal-Related Publications
  • “The Importance of Legal Advertising on Television,” Perspectives on Lawyer Advertising, Texans Against Censorship. 2004
  • “Legal Watch Dallas 2014”—a study of the legal needs and experiences of Dallas County Latinos. Syndicated research study by Rincón & Associates LLC
  • “Hispanic Market Holds Opportunities for Retailers,” Real Estate Law & Industry Report, Vol. 4, No.15, July 26, 2011.
  • “General Counsel & Study: Shortsighted Business Law Firms Ignoring Hispanic Business Growth”, www.texaslawbook.net, 1-20-14.
  • For a more extended list of publications and presentations, click here.
Client Testimonials

“Rincon and Associates researched important specific demographic information for me on an important case a few years ago. This led to a more favorable outcome in the matter. Mr. Rincon not only knew what he was doing, he also explained his conclusions very well to an attorney not familiar with his field.”

Jan E. Hemphill, retired Texas attorney

“I have worked with Dr. Ed Rincon as my consultant in the planning, selection, and execution of community attitude surveys, focus groups, and mock trials for the past 30 years. During that time, Ed’s professionalism, and high quality customer service for me and my clients has allowed us to successfully predict the outcomes of jury trials in difficult cases more than 90% of the time. This result is a tribute to the quality of Ed’s work in selecting focus groups that match the composition and demographics of the venues where we worked, both in Texas and in venues outside the state. I cannot recommend any market research professional more highly than Dr. Rincon.

  • Multi-million dollar divorce in Fort Worth court with property valuation issues and child custody issues; mock trial results predicted actual jury verdict on value within 10%
  • Multi-million dollar divorce in East Texas settled after mock trial and community attitude survey results revealed to opposing counsel.
  • Multi-million dollar legal malpractice case in FW led to jury verdict for client with verdict exceeding focus group result.”

Kevin W. Karlson, J.D., Ph.D., Litigation Consultant in Dallas

“The Texas Health Steps Study, conducted for the Texas Department of State Health Services from 2012-2013, was a court-ordered study to evaluate the effectiveness of five distinct communication strategies that were targeted to program participants.  The study required both qualitative and quantitative strategies to address the objectives defined by the state client and the court. As the study’s survey research vendor, Rincón & Associates conducted a series of focus groups throughout the State of Texas as well as 2,500 pre-wave surveys and 3,000 post-wave surveys of Medicaid participants.  The surveys utilized the SERENITY® multicultural survey response system that was developed by Rincón & Associates LLC to capture the survey data in multiple modes (mail, online, telephone) and two languages (English and Spanish).  Using this innovative methodology, the study was successful in meeting all of the sampling targets defined by the research plan.  It is my distinct pleasure to affirm that the research conducted by Rincón & Associates LLC, under the direction of Dr. Edward T. Rincón, met the expectations of both Mercer and its client. “

Jennie Echols, D.Sc.N., R.N.
Formerly Project Director with Mercer Consulting, Atlanta GA

Media Coverage

The research studies conducted by Rincon & Associates LLC and the perspectives of Dr. Rincon have been cited in national media such as:

  • The Wall Street Journal
  • Advertising Age
  • ADWeek
  • BusinessWeek.com
  • Forbes
  • American Demographics
  • TexasLawBook.net
  • Supermarket Business
  • National Public Radio
  • Restaurants & Institutions
  • BroadcastingCable.com
  • AsianWeek.com
  • Drug Store News
  • Mexico Business
  • Internet Retailer
  • Hispanic Retail 360
  • Bloomberg.com
  • HispanicBusiness.com
  • Minority Markets Alert
  • Markets:  Latin America
Confidentiality

All projects are handled with the highest degree of confidentiality expected by the legal community and consistent with the attorney/client relationship.