By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: In 1620, Francis Bacon wrote in Novum Organum, “The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion…draws all things else to support and agree with it. And though there be an increasing number and weight of instances to be found on the other side, yet these it either neglects or […]
Reject Your Confirmation Bias (Or At Least Try To) Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Consider this scenario: two swimmers are drowning, and the even greater problem is that they are so far apart that the single lifeguard cannot rescue both. Instead the lifeguard must choose, because trying to save both could end in saving neither. Logically, we would say that in this scenario, the lifeguard
Take Your Obligations Seriously (Even When They’re Impossible) Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: If you’ve had young children, then you know that at a certain stage, watching the same movie over and over again with your kid comes with the territory. As much as the repetition might annoy you, the kids seem to love the familiarity and comfort of knowing exactly what is going
Repeat Yourself: (Carefully) Repeat Yourself Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The field of law still holds a first-place title among other professions, but it is a title that law really, really does not want to hold: The practice of law is the least diverse profession in the United States. American lawyers are 88 percent white, and two-thirds male, and that
Build a Diverse Firm Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Social scientists who measure public opinion for a living tend to love forced choice questions. By asking respondents whether they “support” or “oppose” an increased military response in Syria and Iraq, for example, you avoid having too many go for the soft squishy middle of being “not sure.” Of course
Use Forced Choice in Oral Voir Dire Read More »
Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Last week saw the killing of 14 and the wounding of an additional 21 in San Bernadino by a County Health Department employee. He apparently left a company training event after some kind of argument, and later returned with his wife, as well as an arsenal of tactical military equipment. The event
Fight for Your Frame Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: “Earned Dogmatism” is a relative newcomer as an academic phrase, but it refers to the closed-mindedness that sets in once one dons the “expert” hat. While we like to think of experts as broad-minded, creative, and analytical, new research suggests that the “expert” label is more likely to induce a
Address the Expert’s Earned Dogmatism Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Without a theme, your case is just information: facts, claims, exhibits, instructions, and witnesses. It may be legally sufficient, but without a simple and central message to tie it all together, it is not persuasively sufficient. Experienced trial lawyers may be of one mind when it comes to the importance
The Right Theme? Look It Up in the Moral Foundations Dictionary Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Gone are the days when trial consultants were just jury-pickers. Today, your trial consultant — more broadly, a litigation consultant — is likely to offer a variety of services ranging, as we say, “From first filing to final appeal: “case assessment, strategy, witness preparation, mock trial and focus group research, and
Take Your Trial Venue’s Temperature: Seven Uses for a Community Attitude Survey Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: This past week, the nation has been locked in yet another moral argument that breaks along political lines: In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris, should the U.S. accept Syrian refugees or not? Both sides are grounding their stances in moral argument, but those arguments diverge. One side
Use Moral Framing as an Argument Strategy Read More »