By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: At the heart of our thinking on persuasion, there is one depressing question: “Is it possible to persuade someone once they have dug in on a position?” The rational model would like to think so, and the law would like to think so as well. Give someone evidence, and you influence […]
Argue and Cross in a Way that Doesn’t Threaten Identity Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: We know the expression, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” Maybe the version for trial lawyers is: “You can lead a jury to evidence, but you can’t make them think.” Of course, they’ll do their thinking on their own, and the whole point of
Think Twice About Leading Your Mock Jurors Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: I fly United Airlines on average a couple times a week. On a recent return home, I witnessed something remarkable before takeoff. All around me, people were watching the safety video! Contrast that with what is more typically the case: all the business people and vacationers chatting, reading, or taking
Break Through the Boredom Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: There are many reasons to mock try your case before trial or settlement. It helps you assess your overall case, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and test your messages, witnesses, themes, and graphics. It won’t necessarily predict your results, but when done well, it will inform you on the reasonability of possible ranges.
Mock Try Your Brain Injury Case Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released its 2015 Enforcement and Litigation Data, and one of the items that stands out is that the greatest number of charges filed are in the category of retaliation. Continuing a trend from prior years, the data show that almost half — 44.5 percent — of the
Understand the Whistle-blower Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: As the question hangs in the air, you can see the tension working on the witness. Her face screws up, she looks at the ceiling, tenses her shoulders, and delays. As you call for a time-out in the preparation session, the witness blurts out, “What should I say? I don’t know
If You Don’t Know the Answer, Then That’s Your Answer Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Law schools don’t necessarily teach you how to try a case, or cover all the areas of law you’ll need to know in your niche. But by all accounts, they do a very good job of encouraging students to “think like a lawyer.” That means thinking systematically, analytically, and logically. So when
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The potential ability of jurors to pose a question to a witness by submitting that question first to a judge is a trial feature that always comes up in discussions of jury trial innovations and experimentation. But at a certain point, we really have to stop calling it an “innovation” or
Listen to Experience on Juror Questions Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: By this point, most of us have heard of Martin Shkreli, the former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. Social media has dubbed him the “Pharma Bro” after he acquired the drug Daraprim, an antiparasitic often used to treat AIDS victims, and promptly raised the price from $13.50 to $750 per pill. For
Wipe That Smirk Off Your Face Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: A popular focus in the polling for the presidential race right now is to ask about the various potential general election match-ups: What if it was Clinton versus Trump? Or Sanders versus Cruz? Clinton versus Rubio? Sanders versus Bush? As often as we hear that kind of data, professional pollsters
Be Realistic About Hypothetical Questions: Four Ways to Answer Read More »