By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Your opening is a story, I’ve written before, about what happened and about what kind of case this is. The closing is a different story, not about what happened, but what is about to happen: deliberations and a verdict, hopefully in your favor. It makes little sense to go all […]
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: As the pack of Republican presidential contenders heads out of Iowa, there is an important lesson for litigators and other persuaders, but it is partly simple and partly complex. The simple part is that negative campaigning works. Just ask Newt Gingrich who was on the receiving end of more than four million dollars
Take a Lesson from Political Campaigns: Going Negative Works (Partially) Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – Your case has finally gone to the jury, and the panel is now ensconced in the jury room. What are they doing in there? Are they carefully and logically arguing the merits of your case, considering all sides until the truth wins out? If you have ever watched a closed-circuit feed of mock jury deliberations,
No Blank Slate (Part 2): In Closing, Treat Your Jurors as Instrumental Arguers Read More »
By: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – For an upcoming opening statement or closing argument, your gestures are probably the last thing on your mind…until you actually get up to speak. Then, the commentator in your brain might be asking, “why am I gripping the sides of this lectern?” or “Is there a way I can
Go Ahead and Talk with Your Hands, But Know What You’re Saying Read More »
By: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – For all the careful attention and planning that goes into a good opening statement story, and a strong closing argument structure, the rebuttal can end up sounding like an afterthought — especially when it is an afterthought. Composed on the fly while listening to your opponent’s argument, your rebuttal can often be reduced to
Avoid the “And Another Thing…” Style in Rebuttal Read More »
By: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – As closing arguments finished in a recent employment jury trial that I sat through, the defense team and I felt, predictably, that we had the overwhelming weight of evidence on our side of the case. But still, we worried as the jury filed in to deliberate. We had faced a Plaintiff’s case
Understand Juror Bias, But Bet On The Evidence Read More »
by: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm In the recently concluded trial against former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, the jurors came to refer to it as “The Bible,” based both on its power and on its frequently obscure meaning. In this case, the “it” being 105 pages of fairly complex instructions coming at the end of a thirty-nine
Address Your Jury’s Inevitable Difficulty With The Instructions Read More »
by: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm The common wisdom is that closing argument it the time to, well, present arguments. However, a sensitivity to your audience and to what jurors are trying to do during your closing argument, suggests that straightforward argument may not be the best way to help jurors feel like they’re 1.) coming
Remember That Argument Isn’t The Most Important Part of Closing Read More »
by: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm At the close of the corruption trial of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich for, among other things, trying to sell Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder, the defense surprised many by putting on no witnesses and by reneging on an earlier promise that Mr. Blagojevich would testify
Keep Your Burden of Proof in Your Back Pocket Read More »
by: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm Sigmund Freud is credited with having said that “analogies prove nothing, but they make us feel right at home.” Among litigators, there are two schools of thought on whether to deploy analogies in the course of legal persuasion. One side argues that the explanatory staying-power of an analogy makes it
Stop Searching for the Perfect Analogy (but Don’t Surrender a Communication Lifesaver) Read More »