By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – During a recent trial, a witness was about to leave the stand as a slip of paper with a question emerged from the jury. The note was enough to make the examining counsel’s blood run cold, as the juror asked the witness, “Isn’t [your attorney] signalling you on how to answer by nodding his head to indicate ‘yes,’ or ‘no’? […]
Remember in Court, If You’re in View, Then You’re on Stage Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – The term “woodshedding” as applied to a witness has a colorful history, starting with the notoriety of a small structure just outside the colonial courthouse in White Plains, New York, where attorneys would meet with witnesses just before coming in to court. As used today, “woodshedding” basically means telling witnesses, fact
Keep Your Witness Out of the Woodshed Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – With Standard & Poor’s recent decision to deny the U.S. a AAA credit rating, many Americans are feeling a little downgraded about now. For most of us, I can hope, that is a temporary feeling. But for others, especially in these economic times, it is a more constant aspect of their lives. These Americans,
Beware of Jurors Who Feel Downgraded Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – Litigators like to see themselves as silver-tongued persuaders, but in an age in which fewer than one in fifty suits are resolved in trial, they may find that the negotiation skills of Donald Trump come to matter more than the rhetorical skills of F. Lee Bailey. And research is
When You Press the Negotiations, Pause the Persuasion Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – “Well…let me just throw a number out to get us rolling: Five million dollars!” (Recent mock juror quote) Juror damage awards can seem erratic and inexplicable, not only to the public, but to experienced litigators as well. Particularly when jurors are valuing something other than a concrete expense by assessing non-economic
Get the Gist of How Jurors Decide Damage Numbers Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – The old Rolling Stones song notwithstanding, it is likely that most Americans have very little sympathy for the devilish war Congress has waged over raising the debt limit. This impasse, like most intractable disagreements, can be seen as a failure of empathy. In this case, a failure of each
Sympathy for the Devil, but Empathy for Your Judge Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – As we get to the final post in this series, astute readers will have no doubt noticed one claim that we haven’t made: namely, that graphics will win your case. By themselves, they won’t. That is what we found in our experiment focusing on the reactions of 1,375 mock jurors.
Show, Don’t Just Tell: Part 5, Caution (Persuasion Strategies Visual Persuasion Study) Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – “I know how to explain it, and I think I even know how to persuade jurors on it — but how do I make it central for them? How do I make this fact the first thing they remember about this case?” That question, asked recently by an attorney
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – We sometimes meet attorneys who want a low-technology approach in trial. I imagine they see themselves standing in front of the jury saying something like, “well…I’m just a country lawyer and I don’t know much about all these new fangled gadgets – documents flying on the screen, Star Wars animation
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – When we think of great attorneys, the skills that we most often cherish are persuasion and logic — the power to get a judge or jury to think and to do what you want. But what about the ability to inform, to explain, to simply make something clear? An