By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm Imagine two scenarios involving figure skaters just before a competition. In the first scenario, one skater, perhaps a sneakier version of Tanya Harding, loosens some of the screws on the bottom of another contestant’s skate causing her opponent to fall and delivering the victory to the saboteur. In the second […]
Clothe Responsibility in Action, Not Inaction Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: If you recognize the word “truthiness” then chances are, you are a fan of Comedy Central’s mock news commentator Steven Colbert. If not, the neologism is something Colbert coined in his first show in 2005, and “truthiness is what you want the facts to be, as opposed to what
Keep an Eye on Your “Truthiness” Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Matthew Salzwedel in Lawyerist recently wrote about ethos, pathos, and logos in legal writing. In case you’re trying to remember that early college course in philosophy or public speaking, let me remind you of Aristotle’s famous trilogy: Ethos relates to your credibility, pathos lies in your ability to appeal to emotions,
Ethos, Pathos, and Logos: Use All Three in Your Legal Writing and Oral Argument Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Think beyond the stereotypes. That is what you’re used to hearing (and I’m used to saying) about jury selection. But that same need to subvert the stereotypes applies not just to picking panelists, but to persuading as an attorney or an expert witness as well. In each of these situations,
Subvert Stereotypes: Free the Attorney, the Expert, and the Juror Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Imagine this messaging challenge: Your case isn’t a personal injury case, where there is a discrete moment you’re asking jurors to evaluate. Instead, it is a commercial case, where there is a profusion of details, memos, and meetings, each like individual flakes in a snowstorm. In order to make it
Make Events Meaningful by Inviting Counterfactuals Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The point is easy to grasp but hard to put into practice for both politicians and litigators: If something is likely to come out eventually, then you’re far better off skipping the chase, avoiding the drama, and just getting it out. And a close corollary of the principle is this: If
Bad Stuff? Get It Out And Get It Over With Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Once again, we’re shocked and saddened. Early Friday morning, another sociopath with access to military-level firepower opened fire on movie theater patrons during a midnight premiere of the latest Batman film in Aurora, Colorado, injuring more than 50 and killing 12. This follows a long list of the previous times that
Don’t Let Concern Substitute For Action Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: We are used to seeing compassion as an aspect of character, an ethos, or even as a religious belief. But here is another way of looking at it: Compassion is a behavior. And like other behaviors, it can be evoked in some circumstances and inhibited in others. Rather than simply
Cultivate Compassion Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: On a number of occasions, I’ve been told confidently by mock jurors that they can tell a witness is lying because the witness looks up and to the right while testifying. That is a great reason not to look up and to the right while testifying, but is that actually
Don’t Put Too Much Fizz in Pop Psychology Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It is increasingly expected that attorneys will conduct a mock trial, particularly in high stakes litigation. There are, however, different perspectives on what it means to conduct a mock trial, and litigators as mock trial consumers should be aware of these differences. On the one hand, some would emphasize a
Know Your Constraints: A Conversation on Mock Trial Design Read More »