By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Your opening statement is a lot of firsts. It’s the first opportunity for your judge or jury to hear the story; the first opportunity to hear a preview of your evidence and argument; the first opportunity to see you on your feet as an advocate for a sustained period of […]
Open for Business: Top Posts on Opening Statement Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Who is a juror? Experienced legal persuaders know a juror isn’t just a passive receptacle for your arguments, and isn’t just an instrument, a route or obstacle to your preferred verdict in the case. Instead, a juror is fully human, a subject not an object, and possessed of their own particular
Address Identity and Not Just Belief Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Lately, I’ve seen increasing reports of people voluntarily separating themselves from the news. Often, this means taking a break from Facebook and its ubiquitous “Newsfeed.” In other cases, however, it involves people sounding the retreat on watching the news or reading the paper. For some, it means being more selective,
Account for News Fatigue Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: In the long-running legal battle between mobile phone titans Apple and Samsung, the former just received a verdict of $539 million for the latter’s infringement of five design and utility patents. After spending days on the calculations, the San Jose jury returned an amount that seemed to be driven by calculations: exactly $533,316,606
Remember, With Damages It’s the Message and Not Just the Math Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: There is an old saying attributed to Mark Twain, that “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting its shoes on.” Based on a recent large-scale MIT study, that turns out to be pretty accurate. The study, released this past week in the journal Science (Vosoughi,
Use the Features that Make the Fake News Fly Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: What counts as good legal persuasion differs from one country to the next. Different cultures, different legal rules and systems, and different fact finders all make a difference. But one thing stays consistent no matter the venue or the tongue: Legal persuasion boils down to people using communication to influence
Trial Lawyers, Improve Your Emotional Intelligence (7 Reasons and 3 Ways) Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: You’ve probably heard the expression, “Minds are like parachutes: They only function when they’re open.” That is undoubtedly true for some people. And if you’re one of the curious regular readers of this blog, then that is probably true for you. But it isn’t true for others. Their minds don’t
Adapt to Information Engagement Styles Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It is conversation I frequently have when sending jurors off to deliberate as part of a mock trial. “Can we ask the attorneys questions about the case?” “No, just do your best with what you remember.” “But what if there are things we forget?” “Don’t worry, as a group you’re
Don’t Expect Better Memory from a Jury Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: You know it is possible. As those jurors leave the courtroom with their mobile phones on a break or at the end of the day: They could be off on their own evidence-gathering foray, looking up the parties, the lawyers, the witnesses, or the law. But, they’ve been given strong
Expect a Majority of Your Jurors to Commit Online Misconduct Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: If you’ve ever suffered through an extended interpersonal argument, either as a protagonist or as an observer, you might be justifiably skeptical about its usefulness. The common experience is that no one is going to budge. I’ve been there as well, and that is why I was intrigued when reading
Focus on the Factors that Actually Change Minds Read More »