By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Anecdotally, I have seen it in a few recent cases: The deposition witness isn’t asked an open-ended question and isn’t given a “Yes or No” either. Instead, they are given a range of options, like you would see in an attitude survey or a school examination. For example, an employer
Prepare for Multiple Choice Questions in Deposition Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: So, your deposition has been scheduled, and you’re just starting to wrap your head around what is in store for you. Your lawyer has already stressed that you are not in the driver’s seat at this stage: The deposition is the other side’s process. Because of that, it helps to
Know the Other Side’s Three Goals for Your Deposition Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Whenever we step up to evaluate a person as a potential juror, it can be an occupational hazard to simplify that person too much. We do our best with the time and information available, and to be sure, jury selection would be better and less susceptible to social biases if judges
Look Beyond Your Jurors’ Political Identification: Education Matters Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Witnesses, I’d like to have a word. You know the most important audience for your testimony — the jurors in the courtroom with you, or the future jury who might someday see a clip of your deposition? That audience is kind of pulling for you. You aren’t a lawyer, and
Witnesses, Don’t Create Obstacles to a Positive Perception Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: I recently visited one of the Meow Wolf locations, and my feelings about the immersive art installation tracked with the typical reactions: As vivid as the pictures are, they still don’t do it justice, and you have to be there. This idea that in-person experience is always going to be
The Research/Practice Gap: You Should Continue to Prefer Live Testimony Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: A seasoned trial lawyer stands in front of the jury, previews the critical argument, and then, making knowing eye contact with the jury, adds, “Now, you might be thinking…” before spelling out and then responding to a key point of expected resistance. That approach — anticipating and reacting to likely
Embrace the Power of “You might be thinking…” Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It has been a rough couple of years for science. Our newly-unmasked population seems to be more divided than ever about our ability to rely on science in applying systematic and neutral procedures in order to find reliable answers to the questions that matter. A sizable chunk of the population
Address Anti-Expert Bias: 5 Ways Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It’s America’s case of the moment: Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, Hollywood’s former power-couple, now exchanging accusations of physical abuse in a Fairfax, Virginia courtroom. The defamation case initially brought by Depp has now centered on two starkly different stories about what went on in the marriage. At it’s heart,
Apply Two Tests to Any Battle Between Stories Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The reserved opening statement is a strategy that, in all my years helping in the courtroom, I have never seen applied. In theory, a defendant typically has the right to wait until the plaintiff or the state has put on its case, and then offer their opening statement just before
Reserve Your Opening? Three Ways that Rare Strategy Might Make Sense Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: You have your witness on the stand in direct examination. You have finished laying out the positive story that you want to tell, but you have one more thing to do before handing that witness over to the other side: You need to cover the bad stuff. At this stage,
Take the Medicine: Three Steps to Pre-empting Your Witness’s Bad Stuff Read More »