By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: As the world’s main social media companies are in a California courtroom for a bellwether trial to contest claims that they are facilitating online addictions, courtrooms themselves have flirted and tested online applications, but have thus far mostly resisted the full online embrace. Online engagement may be effective in luring teens […]
Expect Justice to be Served Online as Well Read More »
By Dr. Ava Zwolinski and Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: Americans have long viewed large organizations, both governmental and corporate, with considerable skepticism. In civil litigation, jurors will often perceive corporate defendants through an interpretive lens colored by preconceived biases against corporations (e.g., they’re guided solely by profit, and they harm individuals for their own gain) as
Defendants, Look Out for Anti-Corporate Conspiracists on Your Jury Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: Whether we are talking about Minnesota or Greenland, or a score of other contested narratives within the field of political conflict, the role of a person’s ideological and partisan leaning has probably never been more salient than it is now. The perception, at least, is that one’s orientation doesn’t just predict
Don’t Reduce Jurors to Their Political Identities (But Don’t Ignore It Either) Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: When it comes to persuasive courtroom communication, there is a three-word piece of advice that is drilled into the marrow of every experienced litigator: Tell a story! Trial lawyers don’t go far without internalizing that advice. When it comes to applying the advice, however, most defendants will apply it most naturally and
Defense, Tell a Story on Damages Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: The courtroom had all the usual elements: oak paneling, parties, a judge, a jury box, a flag. Only in the jury box, instead of live human jurors, there were three large digital monitors on which appeared the “jurors” for this case: ChatGPT (OpenAI), Grok (xAI), and Claude (Anthropic). This event, held
Keep Your Jurors (and Mock Jurors) Human Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: Supporters of America’s traditional jury trials like the idea of a system of conflict resolution based on evidence, reasoning, and the public’s judgment. Those supporters, and I include myself in that group, believe that something is being lost when nearly all disputes that are candidates for such a system are instead
Address the Off-Stage Character in Your Trial Story: Settlement Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm As counsel scans the panel of potential jurors, one might stand out based on the gut level thought: a “that guy just makes me nervous” kind of reaction. Basing your strike decisions on a “bad feeling” that lies outside of articulable factors of experience or attitude certainly isn’t unknown. But it
Have a Definite (Explicit and Quantified) Reason for Your Strikes Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: How effectively does counsel and the court question potential jurors as part of the selection process? New research in the journal Language in Society (Clayman & Fox, 2025) provides some additional perspective on that question. The two authors, coming from the academic perspective of conversation analysis, reviewed transcripts from more than 100 question and
Oral Voir Dire: Know Your Purpose Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: Civil cases generally involve a mix of individuals and corporations. While the government can be a party, more often state or federal officials are playing an off-stage role in setting a regulatory standard that was either met or not met in the case. A product manufacturer might have complied with the
Assess Regulator Credibility Within Your Trial Narrative Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: It’s a familiar scenario: As the case moves toward the mediation stage, the two sides start staking out positions with an eye toward compromise. The plaintiffs make a big ask with the expectation of coming down. The defense offers a low number with the expectation of coming up. Before and through
Mediate on Merits, Not Math Read More »