By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: “The whole problem with the world,” according to an adage attributed to Bertrand Russell, “is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves and wiser people so full of doubts.” Reading the comments sections in just about any online magazine, it is easy to see those confident extremists. There
Expect Confidence at the Extremes Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: T.o.M stands for “Theory of Mind,” and it is a very academic name for a very practical concept that might determine the difference between an effective team and an ineffective one. That is a difference that should matter to most trial lawyers. In criminal law and more modest civil cases,
Put T.o.M. On Your Team Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: You wouldn’t know the results of last Fall’s congressional midterm elections from watching the State of the Union Address this past Tuesday. It looked for all like a victory lap for President Barack Obama: The economy is rebounding, the unemployed and the uninsured are down, and America has ended the two
Lead When You’re Losing Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The name “Discovery” doesn’t quite do justice to the litigation phase it describes. When it’s done well and with purpose, the point of discovery isn’t so much to discover evidence as it is to create evidence. In deposition, for example, the deposing attorney’s fondest wish is not to discover the witness’s view of what
Don’t Be Led (in Deposition) Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: In our system, it is common to see someone suing someone else, but it is rare for that someone to be a juror. But that is exactly what is happening in the latest outgrowth of the decision to not indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting of Michael
Let the Jurors Speak (After Trial) Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The trial of James Holmes, the Aurora movie theater shooter, is about to get underway in nearby Centennial, Colorado. Assuming the judge holds firm in his “No more delays” stance, jury selection begins on January 20th, with opening statements set for later this Spring. Overlapping the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev,
Pay Attention to Media Trials Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Everyone who has ever served on a jury or watched a mock jury deliberate knows that emotions play a role. What you might not know, however, is that emotions also carry a bias. They’re filtered and used selectively, owing to the fact that, in a particular legal context, some emotional
Expect Filtered Emotions in Deliberations: A Capital Case Study Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Let’s say that you know little to nothing about the actual legal process outside the distorted Hollywood lens. But the one thing you do know is that you’ll be testifying under oath at some point in the future. You’ll be on the stand, or you’ll be called in for deposition.
Build Confidence: A Review of “The Articulate Witness” Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: If the release of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on the CIA’s detention and interrogation methods following the September 11th attacks wasn’t depressing enough, the follow-up polling is sure to put an exclamation point on it: Americans, by a nearly two-to-one margin, support torture. Based on the belief that, despite the
Convince Jurors That the Ends Don’t Always Justify the Means Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Chants of “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” and “I Can’t Breathe,” continue to be heard at protests around the country. Motivated by the Ferguson, Missouri police shooting of Michael Brown, as well as the choke-hold death of Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York, these protests testify to a rising distrust
Don’t Confuse Certainty with Accuracy when It Comes to Witness Testimony Read More »