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(formerly the Persuasive Litigator blog)

Author name: ken.brodabahm

Mind the Gap: Stop Jurors From Jumping Straight From Liability to Damages

Adapting to Jurors, Comprehension / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: “Whatever happened to causation,” defendants sometimes wonder.  For example, a drug company is targeted for inadequate testing, and for attempting to hide research showing a statistical link to cancer.  The Plaintiff took the drug, and now has cancer.  For many jurors, that would prompt them to break out the check-book:  “Liability established… Lets talk […]

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Take a Lesson from Political Campaigns: Going Negative Works (Partially)

Closing Argument, Public Perception / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: As the pack of Republican presidential contenders heads out of Iowa, there is an important lesson for litigators and other persuaders, but it is partly simple and partly complex.  The simple part is that negative campaigning works.  Just ask Newt Gingrich who was on the receiving end of more than four million dollars

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You’d Better Be Good (But If Not, Presenting the Naughty With the Nice Makes For a More Credible Trial Story)

Adapting to Jurors, Strategy / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: “Your honor, this pattern of making a list for those deemed “Naughty” and “Nice” has the clear and foreseeable consequence of disparate treatment – namely, coal and switches – for those in the former cateorgy, and can only be seen as a persistent (annual) and intentional (he ‘checked it twice’) pattern resulting in the intentional infliction

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Don’t Be Faceless

Adapting to Jurors / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Speaking of faces, it turns out that Facebook is planning to sue Mark Zuckerberg.  No, not that Mark Zuckerberg, the iconic founder of the world’s social media homepage, but an Israeli businessman, formerly named Rotem Guez, who legally changed his name to Mark Zuckerberg in order to support a business

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But Wait, There’s More: Build Your Case Over Time, Instead of All at Once

Adapting to Jurors, Comprehension, Opening Statement, Testifying Effectively / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: If that commercial for the knife set just laid it all out at the start, it would sound like this:  “Okay, here is the deal, you get the knives, the storage block, an extra set of steak knives, free sharpening for life, and free shipping if you call in the next hour.” 

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Don’t Be Defined By Bad Acts (Make Your Good Acts Intentional, and Your Good Intentions Actual)

Uncategorized / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It is an unusual research finding, but it explains a great deal of what we see in mock trials and litigation outcomes:  Just as with naughty pupils, bad acts receive more attention than good acts.  For both the plaintiff, as well as the defendant, juries and other fact-finders are likely

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Define “Reasonable Person” As Your Jurors’ Idealized Version of Themselves

Adapting to Jurors, Bias, Products Liability Litigation, Public Perception, Voir Dire / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Sometimes you come across a document that challenges your view of basic human goodness.  The stomach-churning Grand Jury Report relating to the Pennsylvania State football scandal is one such document.  What stands out, based on the allegations, is just how many times former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was caught.  In locker rooms, workout

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