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 »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: As a species, we used to hear tales by the flickering light of a campfire, and now we hear them by the flickering light of a projector in a large darkened movie theatre. Moviemakers have become the storytellers, and many of the stories that now play a role in how
Take Some Storytelling Lessons From Pixar Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Imagine you are in a grocery store standing in the cereal aisle in front of a dizzying variety of choices. You pick up one box, and being the healthy person that you are, you check the nutritional information on the label. Then you pick up another box. The second cereal
Don’t “Narrow Bracket” Your Choices in Jury Selection Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The notion of rule of law has taken a beating recently. The outcry from those opposed to the Supreme Court decision on healthcare — in many ways a flip side of the reaction that occurred in response to the Bush v. Gore decision that ended the 2000 presidential election recount —
Address Fundamental Skepticism on Rule of Law Read More »