By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: We are, of course, still in the midst of the pandemic, and if the question is, “How are people feeling about that?” there is not just one answer. There isn’t even a good answer that can be accurately expressed as an average. Instead, there are different constellations of opinion relating […]
Current Attitudes: Account for ‘COVID Clusters’ Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: As of press time for this post, 173,094 Americans have died from the novel coronavirus. If the United States had followed the example of other developed countries by taking earlier and more decisive actions against the virus, our country could have prevented approximately 70 percent of these deaths. That, at
Experts: Use Counterfactuals Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: As our court system looks at the possibilities for trials under the current pandemic conditions, it seems like we face a choice: Restart trials in person, with distance, disinfectants, masks, and barriers; or move the process online with unequal technology, glitches, and lower fidelity. While there are certainly practical challenges
Whatever Your Trial Solution, Don’t Forget About Communication Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: We tend to think of “bias” as it applies to juries, but courts can have their own deep-seated practices. For example, judges will often prefer voir dire questions that focus on the juror’s own assessment of the influence of a given attitude or experience, not on the actual attitude or
Voir Dire on Content, Not Effect: Lessons from the Tsarnaev Appeal Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: This blog is dedicated to the proposition that those like me, who want to learn all they can about effective communication and persuasion, can take lessons from almost everything. Even the worst social situations can improve our understanding of the ways that people process information and reach decisions. The current
Treat the Pandemic as a Bias Laboratory Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: As you look out at a panel of potential jurors during voir dire, there are many things you’re likely to wonder about them. Do they have any attitudes toward your client, or people like your client? Are they likely to understand some complexity, or not? Do they support or oppose
Measure Your Juror’s Faith in the Jury System Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: In courtrooms making tentative steps toward reopening to in-person jury trials, some of the parties have called for increased use of juror questionnaires, ideally filled out ahead of time either by mail or online. This makes a great deal of sense in, at least, reducing the time spent during voir dire,
Juror Questionnaires: Expect Some Deception Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The current global coronavirus pandemic is a huge disruption to life in nearly every country and the explanations for it have gotten to the point that they’re as big as the disruption. Rather than believing that a virus in Southern China simply transitioned from an animal to a human host,
Account for Proportionality Bias: Big Events Must Have Big Causes Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: As the coronavirus pandemic drags on and intensifies, courts around the country are moving toward reopening in fits and starts, with distancing, temperature checks, masks, and hand sanitizer. Some courts are also exploring distanced alternatives, including in some cases trial by Zoom, or by other web-conferencing tools that allow jurors
Online Versus In-Person Deliberations: Consider Differences in Equal Participation Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: So your trial date has been kicked into indefinite future. Now, what do you do? Even as you reduce your time on the case, you still want to keep a foot in the door so that you are ready once things start moving again. Maybe it is time to take
Invent Your Trial Theme: Seven Ways Read More »