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Your Trial Message

(formerly the Persuasive Litigator blog)

Adapting to Jurors

Don’t Just Ask IF a Potential Juror Can “Set Aside” Bias, Ask Them HOW They’ll Do It

Adapting to Jurors, Bias, Voir Dire / /

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: In a recent jury selection — and, pretty much, in every jury selection — I have watched as several on the panel would share various connections, attitudes, or experiences that could quite reasonably point to that person holding a bias in the case, before confidently declaring that they could “set it aside,” and […]

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Defendants, Look Out for Anti-Corporate Conspiracists on Your Jury

Adapting to Jurors, Bias / /

By Dr. Ava Zwolinski and Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: Americans have long viewed large organizations, both governmental and corporate, with considerable skepticism. In civil litigation, jurors will often perceive corporate defendants through an interpretive lens colored by preconceived biases against corporations (e.g., they’re guided solely by profit, and they harm individuals for their own gain) as

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Don’t Reduce Jurors to Their Political Identities (But Don’t Ignore It Either)

Adapting to Jurors, Bias / /

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: Whether we are talking about Minnesota or Greenland, or a score of other contested narratives within the field of political conflict, the role of a person’s ideological and partisan leaning has probably never been more salient than it is now. The perception, at least, is that one’s orientation doesn’t just predict

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Address the Off-Stage Character in Your Trial Story: Settlement

Adapting to Jurors, Comprehension, Narrative / /

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: Supporters of America’s traditional jury trials like the idea of a system of conflict resolution based on evidence, reasoning, and the public’s judgment. Those supporters, and I include myself in that group, believe that something is being lost when nearly all disputes that are candidates for such a system are instead

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Oral Voir Dire: Know Your Purpose

Adapting to Jurors, Voir Dire / /

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: How effectively does counsel and the court question potential jurors as part of the selection process? New research in the journal Language in Society (Clayman & Fox, 2025) provides some additional perspective on that question. The two authors, coming from the academic perspective of conversation analysis, reviewed transcripts from more than 100 question and

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Assess Regulator Credibility Within Your Trial Narrative

Adapting to Jurors / /

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: Civil cases generally involve a mix of individuals and corporations. While the government can be a party, more often state or federal officials are playing an off-stage role in setting a regulatory standard that was either met or not met in the case. A product manufacturer might have complied with the

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More Arguments Aren’t Always Better: Know the Reduced Average Effect

Adapting to Judges, Adapting to Jurors, Strategy / /

  Imagine an attorney going over her notes before oral argument. She already has a solid set of reasons lined up and then decides to add one more argument that has been a little controversial within the team: some like it, but most think it is weak. Flash forward to the judge’s hearing on the

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