By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Good advocates will spend considerable amounts of time wondering about their audience. They’ll also wonder about the parties and the witnesses on the other side. What do we know about them? Beyond what we see in the courtroom or learn about through the official procedure, what else is there? What
Account for ‘Many Hats’ in Social Media Profiles Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The common challenge in jury trial, and often in arbitration and bench trial as well, is to get your fact finders to follow, to understand, and to care. In pursuit of these goals, litigators will employ many tactics to continually gain and regain attention. One of those strategies is the
Use Cartoon-style Graphics to Persuade Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Why did President Trump fire FBI Director James Comey? As of press time for this blog post, the answer is that it depends on who you ask and what day, and sometimes what time of day, you ask them. A detailed timeline from the New York Times focuses on the shifting rationale, but
Avoid the Telltale Signs of Pretext Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Going to trial is a lot like going to Disneyland! But only in the sense that it is very expensive, and you will spend a lot of your time waiting. The expense and the delays of the trial process are a common focus for criticism and a big part of
Try a Summary Trial Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Government law enforcement officials have a pretty high profile right now. That’s especially true as they’re increasingly moving into the category of being former law enforcement officials after being removed by President Trump. There was U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in New York, and more recently, of course FBI Director James Comey who became former
Experts, Take a Lesson from Sally Yates Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: At a recent witness preparation meeting, the doctor-defendant sat struggling to recall the details of an informed consent discussion she had with the plaintiff. “I think I told him…” she began, before finishing the statement with, “…Do you know how many patients I see? I really cannot remember.” The medical
Rely on Standard Practice Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: We live in an age of wonders, and those wonders are making it into the courtroom. Attorneys can now display, slice, and dice their documents on the fly using sophisticated presentation software, or even their own iPad. They can show demonstrative exhibits created with the kind of cutting edge design
Go Ahead and Use a Flip Chart Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The earliest days of the Trump presidency, the Trump campaign, and Trump himself have all posed quite a bit of a quandary for social scientists. The reason for that is, while all politicians select, exaggerate, and sometimes tell an outright lie, Donald Trump seems to have a relationship to the
Beware the Blue Lie Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: If the panoply of strategies to persuade were a dating pool, then the fear appeal would definitely be the “bad boy,” or “bad girl.” By that I mean, attractive, a little shady, and potentially dangerous. The tactic of motivating your target audience by instilling and then alleviating some kind of
Understand Why Fear (Often, not Always) Persuades Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: This past weekend saw not just Earth Day, but also a nationwide “March for Science.” On Saturday, people across the country, and in some other parts of the world, turned out in order to show support for the role of science. The message behind these marches is distilled in a four-minute viral
Account for a Lost Faith in Science Read More »