By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: I’ve been fortunate enough to receive an advance copy of Richard Gabriel’s Acquittal: An Insider Reveals the Stories and Strategies Behind Today’s Most Infamous Verdicts, being released on June 3rd. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve made my way through what is now a notes-covered and dog-eared copy. I’ve read […]
Learn from High-Profile Cases: A Review of ‘Acquittal’ by Richard Gabriel Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: There is one topic that nearly always comes up in mock trial discussions: the McDonald’s hot coffee case. It can be a circumstance as distinct as a patent case, and at least one juror will somehow find a connection. When the discussion turns to damages — and especially punitive damages
Expect Jurors to Want to Follow the Money Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Let’s say that I’m testifying in trial? And that role has got me a little wary? And hesitant? So, those feelings leak through my non-verbal communication? And I start raising my pitch at the end of every sentence? My statements all start to sound as if they were questions? It
Avoid Rising Intonation? Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: For jurors in the trial of Cicily McMillan, the outrage came a little bit too late. In one of the last criminal cases emerging from the “Occupy Wall Street” protests, the jury found the protestor guilty of assault for elbowing a police officer when, she claimed, the officer grabbed and
Meter Your Jury’s Moral Outrage Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Research on human decision making is swiftly honing in on one central conclusion: Motivations lead and reasons follow. In other words, what generally comes first is a preference – a desire in the form of what we want to decide. What comes second are the reasons that support that desire.
Know What Motivates Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Regular readers know this blog frequently focuses on the principle that social science matters in litigation. Knowing about public opinion and psychology helps the persuader understand and adapt to the audience. But, going further than that, social science also frequently finds its way into the court’s decisions, particularly when a
Cite Social Science to the Court Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: When your jury returns a verdict, who is actually speaking? Literally, of course, it is the foreperson speaking for the six to twelve on that jury. But more broadly, it is also the six to twelve speaking for the community. In some form or another, those individuals are reflecting the
Hear the Community’s Voice in Your Jury’s Damages Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: What is a photocopying machine? The following video humorously exploring that question has been making the social media rounds inside and outside the litigation world. An acted out version of a real deposition transcript, this creation of L.A. writer/director Brett Weiner recently won an award for best short film at
Avoid Deposition Games (On All Sides) Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: At the start of their game last Sunday, members of the L.A. Clippers ceremonially left their warmup jackets in a heap in center court, and warmed up with their shirts turned inside-out in order to conceal the name and logo of the team. This act came in response to recorded comments
Dissociate (to Separate Bad Image from Good Image in Litigation) Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The jurors lean forward in their seats a bit as they have their first chance to hear about the case in opening statement. The attorney steps to the lectern, looks directly at the panel, pauses, raises his hand for emphasis and…reintroduces himself and everyone sitting at counsel table. “You’ve already
Right Out of the Blocks: Make the First Few Minutes Count Read More »