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(formerly the Persuasive Litigator blog)

Author name: ken.brodabahm

Oral Arguments: Cut In To Your Case Before You’re Cut Off By Your Judge

Adapting to Judges / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: A lot can happen in fifty-two seconds.  In last week’s historic oral arguments before the Supreme Court on the Constitutionality of the President’s healthcare reform, the Justices allowed an unprecedented six hours of oral arguments.  While still not appearing on television, the Court allowed the next best thing:  same day […]

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Don’t Let Your Judge Reduce You to Absurdity

Adapting to Judges / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Justice Scalia strongly believes that you should not be forced to buy broccoli.  This week, the U.S. Supreme Court is addressing the legality of the Affordable Care Act, with Tuesday’s oral arguments focusing on whether an individual mandate to buy health insurance is consistent with the Constitution’s Commerce Clause.  Defending the

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Rely on Instructions to Curb the Socially Networked Juror

Adapting to Jurors, Voir Dire / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The “Googling Juror” has emerged as a massive concern in the courts with plenty of stories on the process being thrown into mistrial by panelists who had to look up a fact, couldn’t take their finger off the Tweet button, and felt the need to “friend” parties, attorneys, and other

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Personify Loss

Adapting to Jurors / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: (Marie Colvin, Journalist, 1956-2012) Legal cases are about loss:  asserting, proving, disputing, and defending against loss.  Those who study and practice civil litigation have a strong interest in knowing how people comprehend and give meaning to loss, because that is what determines their reaction to your case.  And current events provide a

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Voir Dire at the Intersection of Your Case and Their Life: For Energy Litigation, that Means Gas Prices

Energy Litigation, Voir Dire / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It is a reliable maxim that your voir dire should target the experiences of your panel that bear most closely on your case, because that will be the source of the most relevant attitudes.  That seems obvious, but I find that litigators often focus on a level that is more

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Don’t Mistake the Purpose of “Scientific Jury Selection”

Uncategorized / /

Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The word “science” conjures up all kinds of images, and many of those images don’t quite match the realities.  One context in which scientific perceptions are at a mismatch with reality is the area of jury selection.  A week ago, Joel Warner wrote an article for Slate, the online magazine, that began with

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