by: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm Those of us who are old enough may recall that there was a generation taught to give public speeches using index cards. Those little 3×5 or 4×6 cards would hold all of the main points, supporting bullets, and quotables that one would need to get through the presentation. So what […]
by: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm Faced with conflicting testimony in a fictionalized construction case, a recent Denver mock jury had to decide whether it was more likely that an owner created unworkable conditions, or that a contractor had dropped the ball. Their answer — that the contractor had indeed dropped the ball — was buttressed
Remember That Your Juror is a Consumer First Read More »
by: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm From exploding automobile gas tanks to faulty cribs, the history of jury verdicts is littered with cautionary tales of what can happen when a company fails the perceptual test of protecting its customers and standing behind its product. While these lessons apply most obviously to products liability, a parallel concept
Steward Your Product Read More »
by: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm If you have had a trial docketed within the last year or in the coming year, then chances are that you have wondered whether current economic hard times have encouraged in juries either a greater impulse to distribute money from corporations to individual plaintiffs, or conversely, a tight-fistedness that has
Don’t Count on a ‘Recession Effect’ When it Comes to Damage Awards Read More »
by: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm It has been long recognized that an aggressive and thorough cross-examination can feel better (to the examiner) than it plays (to the judge or jury). Attorneys often act as though there is just one rule of cross-examination: “thou shalt control thy witness.” But control, as an end in itself, is
Follow the 10 Commandments of Cross-Examination Read More »
by: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm No, I’m not talking about a breach of decorum that could end with a quick trip to jail. I’m talking about strategy. To understand what I mean by a disruptive trial strategy, imagine a typical juror who walks into a courtroom wrapped in attitudes and experiences that she has built
Be Disruptive in the Courtroom Read More »
by: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm Your expert witness is on the stand as cross begins. Where he previously was clear, confident, and informative with you in direct, he is now simply saying “yes,” and “that’s right” to a series of statements made by opposing counsel. “So you agree that my company completed years of testing
Offense Can Be the Best Defense: Train Your Witness to Fight Back in Cross Read More »
by: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm Chances are you’ve now heard of “Twitter” in which groups of online friends stay in touch by frequently sending short – 140 character – electronic answers to the question “what are you doing now?” Twitter leapt into the legal consciousness mainly because some users started sending “tweets” reading something like, “I’m sitting
Right-Size Your Message in Trial Read More »
by: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm From a lawyer’s eye view, it is often a matter of arguing, convincing, and proving with evidence. But from a juror’s eye view, it may well be a matter of wading through an unfamiliar lexical landscape in order to comprehend enough to make a responsible and respectable decision. The
Teach As Well As Persuade Read More »