By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Your doctor has an M.D., a license, and potentially board certifications as well. Your lawyer has a J.D., a license, and quite possibly other honors based on experience. The legal videographer recording your deposition likely will be certified for that work. Heck, even your plumber, your home siding installer, and […]
Vet Your Trial Consultant Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court announced their 5-4 decision in the case of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby finding that closely-held corporations, based on sincerely held religious beliefs, can exempt themselves from a requirement to provide certain contraceptive services as part of their employee health plans. Predictably, the news cycles and the
Think Beyond Just Red and Blue in Politics Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It might sound like the title for a science fiction series, but in banking a “Dark Pool” refers to a fund that allows anonymous investors to trade large blocks of shares. The tactic is the subject of a recent suit by the New York Attorney General against Barclay’s bank, with
Bank on Bias Against Financial Institutions Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: All reasonable people think like you do. They will notice what you notice, perceive it as you do, find it credible, or not, like you would, and they will be persuaded, or not, in the same way that you would. Okay, give it a moment of thought and you wouldn’t
Don’t Fall for False Consensus Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: If you’re going to lose your case, how will you lose? What is the most likely scenario that would have the jurors going in the other direction? That question lies at the heart of a theme approach that I’d like to demonstrate via a short video (below) from a recent
Aim Your Theme at the Worst Case Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: O.J. Simpson became “more Black” after becoming a suspect in the murder of his ex-wife, and not just on Time Magazine’s infamous tinted cover photo. He also became “more Black” in the sense that the context of criminal charges made his race more saliant to most Americans. We have a
Treat Racism as Situational Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: As jurors in the trial I’m monitoring were dismissed for the weekend, the judge gave them the reminder: “Keep an open mind. Don’t come to any conclusions, just let it rest until all the evidence is in and the time comes for deliberations.” That plea to the jury reminded me
Don’t Expect Deferred Judgment: A Lesson from Bowe Bergdahl Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: I’m monitoring a criminal trial this week, and at the end of opening statements, the judge looked at the jury and said, “Okay, both sides have been referring to ‘AUSAs’ — they know what that means and I know what that means, but I’m guessing that you don’t know that
DUA: Don’t Use Acronyms Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: ‘Fairness’ can sometimes get an unfair rap. Take the tendency to think that jurors fall into two different camps: the law-oriented jurors who are analytic and reason-based, and the fairness-oriented jurors who are emotional and feeling-driven. Like most statements that begin with ‘There are two kinds of people…,” this one
Treat Fairness as a Reason, Not a Feeling Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Brothers Chip and Dan Heath’s Made to Stick book focused on what makes some ideas thrive and persist while other ideas die, and that idea itself has had some stickiness to it. I was reading an ABA Newsletter recently, and Trey Cox applied the idea to trial themes, arguing that in
Go for Sticky Theme Over Catchy Phrase Read More »