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 »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It has been an up and down week for the Obama administration in the Supreme Court. On Monday, the Justice Department scored a mixed result on Arizona’s immigration law preserving the “papers please” policy that Arizona intends to apply to immigrants in that state, allowing police officers to demand proof of citizenship from
Learn From Your Wins and Your Losses Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Trial lawyers typically want a smart jury. There are definitely exceptions, but because advocates are prone to believe that they represent the side of light, logic, and truth, the feeling is that, “As long as we get a jury that is smart enough to see past our opponent’s error and
Don’t Fool Yourself on the Advantages of Intelligence Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Once I was looking into the purchase of a new car. So I visited the showroom, not with the intent of purchasing that day, but with the more general goal of gathering information. I wasn’t there for two minutes, however, when the salesman hit me with the question, “So, what
Play It Where It Lies: Throughout Trial, Match the Message to the Mindset Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Stories require more than sequence. They require a sense of place, a tone, and a texture. Even when told without prepared images or video, a good story requires language that helps the mind “see” and not just comprehend the action. There is one study that perfectly captures this point (Tversky
Talk to the Eyes: If It Can’t Be Visualized, It’s Not a Story Read More »