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(formerly the Persuasive Litigator blog)

Bias

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

Bias / /

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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Expect Skepticism (and Some Support) for Railroads

Adapting to Jurors, Bias / /

By Ken Broda-Bahm: It hasn’t been the easiest year for America’s railroad companies. Last Fall, in the midst of an inflationary panic, a national rail strike threatened to disrupt the nation’s shipping system, before that was resolved through a combination of Presidential carrots and sticks. But that was all eclipsed just a few months later,

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Fight False Equivalence (and Other ‘Low Effort’ Arguments)

Adapting to Jurors, Bias / /

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: Trump’s second indictment is now unsealed, this one framing 37 federal felony counts for willfully retaining classified records at his private residence, and for trying to obstruct the efforts of the FBI and others in trying to recover these documents. Predictably, the response from the former President’s supporters has been to

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Pretty Persuasion: Treat Party or Witness Attractiveness as Part of Credibility 

Adapting to Jurors, Bias / /

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: It’s probably one of the most unfair biases, but also one of the most ingrained. Human beings prefer attractive people over unattractive people, and that is likely tied to our evolutionary biology. Referred to sometimes as “lookism” the bias confers a number of advantages on those who are socially perceived to

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Assessing Your Jurors’ Politics? Look for Conspiracy Thinking As Well

Adapting to Jurors, Bias / /

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: When it comes to sizing up our potential jurors, we are used to looking at their politics. Both conventional wisdom and practical experience suggest that conservatives are more likely to prioritize individual responsibility while liberals focus on social responsibility. That means that in many cases — not all, but many —

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The Lesson of Trump’s (First) Indictment: Look at Both the Legality and the Importance of the Claim

Bias, Public Perception / /

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: The news cycle has been drowning in it. For the first time in history, a former U.S. President faces criminal charges. Donald Trump was arraigned this past Tuesday on April 4th, after being indicted on 34 charges involving the falsification of business records in furtherance of another crime, all surrounding payments

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