Bias Archives - Your Trial Message

Juror Polarization: As the Political Season Ends, Understand It’s Not Just a Season

Adapting to Jurors, Bias / ken.brodabahm / November 5, 2024

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: As I write this, it is finally and mercifully Election Day, 2024. For many of us on the edges of our seats awaiting the returns, we might be considering the question, “What brought us to this?” The answer is that recent technological and cultural forces have powerfully changed American life in […]

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Trial Soon? Expect Some Jurors to Have Electoral Stress

Adapting to Jurors, Bias, Voir Dire / ken.brodabahm / October 29, 2024

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: I know, I know, there’s a very good chance that every election in your lifetime has been billed as the “most important election in your lifetime.” But when it comes to next week’s election, that hyperbole just might be justified — at least based on the way the country seems to

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Expect Jurors to Censor Their Opinions

Adapting to Jurors, Bias, Voir Dire / ken.brodabahm / October 9, 2024

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: With fewer than 30 days to go until one of the most pivotal elections in our history, do you believe the polls? Many would say “No.” Even when our favored candidate is ahead, we all seem to believe that there is some built-in error in the surveys. People aren’t always willing

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Fight (Constitutionally) for Your Peremptory Strikes

Bias, Voir Dire / ken.brodabahm / July 9, 2024

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: It has become more commonplace to hear talk about a future of litigation without peremptory strikes. After all, Arizona in 2022 was the first state to eliminate strikes in all cases, and it may not be the last. California and Washington have moved to revised schemes for exercising strikes, relying not

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As the Reptile Evolves, Update Your Understanding of ‘Duty’

Adapting to Jurors, Bias, Testifying Effectively, Witness Preparation / ken.brodabahm / April 9, 2024

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: The Reptile approach to courtroom persuasion aims to sell plaintiffs’ cases by invoking absolute duties for protection wrapped around a fear appeal that resonates with the jurors. Even with the Reptile’s ‘reboot’ version, the ‘Edge’ training appears to continue this emphasis. In a second part of an article in the CLM

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(Safely) Combat Safety Absolutism

Bias, Themes / ken.brodabahm / March 26, 2024

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: Recently, civil defendants have been interested in a new label: “Safetyism.” The idea focuses on a pervasive and increasing attitude in the jury-eligible population that demands unrealistic standards when it comes to protecting customers, patients, and the general public. The name, I think, might be a little deceptive, because it isn’t

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Fish for a Good Cause Challenge

Bias, Voir Dire / ken.brodabahm / February 6, 2024

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: In my work, I get to watch many attorneys go through the practical rituals of jury selection. A big part of the job is looking for, setting up, and executing challenges for cause when there are reasons to doubt potential jurors’ ability to be fair in following the law and the

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Account for Broken Trust in Institutions

Adapting to Jurors, Bias / ken.brodabahm / December 19, 2023

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: Seems like Americans have had it with powerful institutions lately. The organizations that have long structured our civic life have reached new lows in terms of trust, and this applies to many that have historically garnered relatively high levels of confidence. Higher education is at a historic low, and trust in

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Counter “Safetyism” With Realism

Adapting to Jurors, Bias / ken.brodabahm / December 11, 2023

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: There is a perspective on juror attitudes that has been receiving some attention lately. “Safetyism” refers to an individual’s tendency to not merely prefer safety, but to demand unrealistic standards of protection — no errors, no risk of injury, no chance of a bad outcome, no ‘safe level’ of a contaminant,

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Lawyers and Corporate Defendants – Expect a Little More Hostility from the Jury Box

Bias / ken.brodabahm / August 21, 2023

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: I suspect there has never been any great love affair between attorneys in general and the jury pool. Jurors know that lawyers are there to influence them toward a desired result, and that’s typically met with suspicion. Similarly, corporate defendants also don’t tend to make a jury’s list of favorites. We’ve

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