ken.brodabahm – Page 22 – Your Trial Message

Criminal Defendants Taking the Stand: Expect Conventional Wisdom to Change

Uncategorized / ken.brodabahm / November 22, 2021

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Recently, three of the most high-profile current defendants did what conventional wisdom says they shouldn’t do; They took the stand in their own defense. Kyle Rittenhouse, on trial for killings at a Kenosha, Wisconsin protest, testified. Elizabeth Holmes, on trial in San Jose, California for fraud relating to her company,

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Opening: Build Your House First, Then Take Aim at Their House

Opening Statement / ken.brodabahm / November 18, 2021

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: I have worked with more than one defendant who simply could not resist it: Right out of the gate, in opening statement, they come out swinging against the plaintiff. They’re not being honest, they have their own share of wrongdoing, and they’re motivated by greed! It can feel good taking

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Reconsider the Summary Jury Trial

Settlement / ken.brodabahm / November 15, 2021

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: A number of years ago, innovators searching for ways to take some of the pain, delay, and difficulty out of the jury trial hit upon the idea to boil it down, rein in the discovery, simplify the rules of evidence, and try it to a smaller jury in a single day. For

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Expect a Complex Response to Emotional Testimony

Public Perception, Testifying Effectively / ken.brodabahm / November 11, 2021

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Kyle Rittenhouse, the then-minor charged with killing two and wounding a third at a protest in Kenosha Wisconsin in the Summer of 2020, took the stand in his own defense at his trial yesterday. The case is a kind of litmus test in our current polarized times, with one half

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Account for Camera Perspective Bias

Visual Communication / ken.brodabahm / November 8, 2021

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: This past Friday, eight people died at a music festival in Houston, crushed by a crowd as the music continued and security was unable to help. As the tragedy moves toward litigation, it is likely that this will be another case where there is a profusion of video, with dozens

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Use Jurors’ Availability Bias

Adapting to Jurors, Bias / ken.brodabahm / November 4, 2021

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: How likely is it that a corporation’s competitor could come up with a parallel product without infringing a patent? How common is it for someone to get injured on an amusement park ride? How normal would it be for someone who gets regular physical exams to have an undiagnosed stage

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Meet Your Clients on the Cloud

Uncategorized / ken.brodabahm / November 1, 2021

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: So it is time for your critical meeting with the Client. Are they coming to your office, or are you going to theirs? Or, maybe it is the new option: Let’s just meet on the cloud. An article this past week in the ABA Journal documents a pretty dramatic turn

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Consider the Connotations

Uncategorized / ken.brodabahm / October 28, 2021

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: In the case of Kyle Rittenhouse, the individual on trial for killing two men and wounding a third at a Kenosha, Wisconsin protest in August 2020, the judge has set some terms on language. According to press reports, the judge has ruled that the Defense may characterize the men who

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Look at Whether Your Jurors Are Reading: It May Say Something About Their Empathy

Narrative, Voir Dire / ken.brodabahm / October 25, 2021

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Jury duty often involves some long waits. As people sit in the assembly room or the courtroom, it is normal for them to find something to pass the time. I’ve seen people knitting, drawing, even juggling. But, by far, the most common activity is that they’re reading a paperback that

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Innovate to Keep Track of Information During Voir Dire

Uncategorized / ken.brodabahm / October 21, 2021

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The setting of an in-court oral voir dire can be seen as a “perfect storm” of information. Data about your panel and your potential future fact-finders is coming at you from all directions. You may have responses from a questionnaire as well as information from prospective jurors’ social media and

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Your Trial Message

(formerly the Persuasive Litigator blog)

Author name: ken.brodabahm