By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Imagine this: Your success as an attorney or a witness requires a painstaking dig into the fine points of securities trading. Or offshore corporation taxation rules. Or design criteria for inventory-tracking software. Or the minutia of a construction timeline. Or a patent claim for an electronic switch. Or…you get the […]
Compensate for Dry Style or Dry Material: Seven Ways Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: “Careful what you email” has become a pretty important consideration in Washington lately, and not just for the politicians. This past week, Marc Kasowitz, President Trump’s longtime personal attorney found himself in the spotlight over an email exchange with a critic. On the evening of July 13th, Mr. Kasowitz seems
Treat Your Social Profile Like Your Public Profile Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Once, as I sat in a courtroom getting prepared to assist in picking a jury, the lawyer I was working with leaned over to say, “Make sure you have some reasons for strikes written down that we would be able to show the court.” My reaction? “Of course. All of my reasons
Be Prepared to Explain Your Strikes Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Imagine that you’re housebreaking a puppy. After the inevitable ‘accident,’ and in order to enforce the rules of the house, you address her using your best lowered and ominous voice: “Daisy, what do you do?” Without having any idea what you’re actually saying, the pup reacts to your tone, and
Drop Pitch for Greater Power Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: When we think of the most exciting moments in Hollywood’s version of a trial, direct examination isn’t among them. The act of putting on your own witness in order to establish the elements of your case has none of the drama we associate with a courtroom battle. Instead of offering
Be the Director of Your Witness’s Direct Examination Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It seems like the simplest piece of witness advice imaginable: Answer the question. But, at least judging by the number of times a witness doesn’t quite answer the question, it is a little more complicated than that. For a variety of reasons, many witnesses end up dodging the question. That can be
Don’t Dodge the Question Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It has been one of the most enduring myths of voir dire and jury service generally: the idea that biases are personally known, readily admitted, and fully controllable. In order to prevent a biased juror from serving, let’s just ask them in voir dire if they’re biased, and then rely
Instruct Jurors on Unconscious Bias Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: If I followed the modern ‘clickbait’ style in coming up with a title for this post, maybe I’d go with “You Won’t Believe the Psychological Technique that Creates Greater Influence,” or perhaps, “Twenty Ways to Persuade with Curiosity: #19 Will Shock You!!” As much as we might hate the over-the-top social media versions (not
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: On June 5th, three men used a van and knives to conduct an attack on pedestrians near the London Bridge and Borough Market. Just one week later, another man used a van in an attack on people leaving a mosque near Finsbury Park. Are we likely to frame both events
Expect Facts to Be Favored When They Fit the Frame Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: File this in the category of, “I didn’t realize just how uninformed some people are,” a new survey makes the claim that seven percent of American adults believe that chocolate milk comes from brown cows. The data comes courtesy of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy drawn from an online survey conducted in April
Brown Cows and Chocolate Milk: Account for Rational Ignorance Read More »