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Your Trial Message

(formerly the Persuasive Litigator blog)

Adapting to Jurors

No Blank Slate (Part 1): In Opening, Treat Your Jurors as Motivated Reasoners

Adapting to Jurors, Opening Statement / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – The Plaintiff’s opening statement in the medical malpractice trial began predictably:  This is a case about “incompetence,” and “arrogance,” and “dangerous decisions,” jurors heard.  But rather than fostering even an initial leaning against the doctor, this message brought about a defensive response.  Jurors were left feeling that all their stereotypes about medical lawsuits and […]

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When Arguing Damages, “Drop Anchor” Even in Murky Waters

Adapting to Jurors, Damages / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – This blog frequently covers recent psychological or communications research bearing on legal persuasion, and an important question is how well results hold up when leaving the laboratory and entering the courtroom.  One example is the phenomenon of damage “anchoring,” or the advantage gained when one side offers an ad damnum number as a starting point for jury deliberations. 

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Remember in Court, If You’re in View, Then You’re on Stage

Adapting to Jurors, Testifying Effectively, Visual Communication, Witness Preparation / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – During a recent trial, a witness was about to leave the stand as a slip of paper with a question emerged from the jury.  The note was enough to make the examining counsel’s blood run cold, as the juror asked the witness, “Isn’t [your attorney] signalling you on how to answer by nodding his head to indicate ‘yes,’ or ‘no’? 

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Get the Gist of How Jurors Decide Damage Numbers

Adapting to Jurors, Comprehension / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm –   “Well…let me just throw a number out to get us rolling: Five million dollars!” (Recent mock juror quote) Juror damage awards can seem erratic and inexplicable, not only to the public, but to experienced litigators as well.  Particularly when jurors are valuing something other than a concrete expense by assessing non-economic

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Show, Don’t Just Tell: Part 4, Centrality (Persuasion Strategies Visual Persuasion Study)

Adapting to Jurors, Visual Communication / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – “I know how to explain it, and I think I even know how to persuade jurors on it — but how do I make it central for them?  How do I make this fact the first thing they remember about this case?” That question, asked recently by an attorney

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Show, Don’t Just Tell: Part 3, Comparison (Persuasion Strategies Visual Persuasion Study)

Adapting to Jurors, Visual Communication / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – We sometimes meet attorneys who want a low-technology approach in trial.  I imagine they see themselves standing in front of the jury saying something like, “well…I’m just a country lawyer and I don’t know much about all these new fangled gadgets – documents flying on the screen, Star Wars animation

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Show, Don’t Just Tell: Part 1, Continuity (Persuasion Strategies Visual Persuasion Study)

Adapting to Jurors, Comprehension, Opening Statement, Visual Communication / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – We all remember “show and tell,” and at least back then we understood intuitively that if we tried to just tell, without showing, we couldn’t expect much attention from the class.  The same applies in litigation, and in a way you might not expect.  This post is the first in a five-part series, reporting

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Take a Lesson from the Casey Anthony Verdict: It Is the Story, and Not Just the Evidence

Adapting to Jurors, Narrative, Public Perception / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – Casey Anthony was sentenced today to four years for lying to authorities with credit for the substantial time she has already served.  Instead of facing life, or possibly death, for the murder of her daughter Caylee, she will be free as of next Sunday (July 17th), though it is hard to use the word

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Avoid Condescension and Other Sins of Legal Argument: Know Your ‘Second Persona’

Adapting to Jurors, Bias, Public Perception / /

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – Lucy, for the umpteenth time, holds the football and invites Charlie Brown to kick it with the promise that this time, she won’t pull the ball at the last moment and send him flying.  His response:  “I don’t mind your dishonesty, half as much as I mind your opinion

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