by: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm If it isn’t already a saying, then I’ll try to make it one: When a case gets as far as trial, it is because one side or the other is seriously misunderstanding their chances for success. When both parties are realistic about their chances, then there is really no reason […]
Be More Realistic Than Your Opponent Read More »
by Dr. Ken Broda Bahm As counsel begins her oral argument to the judge, everything is going according to plan. She systematically previews her main points and begins developing the first of several layered arguments. Then… the judge interrupts with a question. Then another question. Then a counter-argument. Before she knows it, counsel is off-track
When Faced With A “Hot Bench,” Keep Your Cool Read More »
by: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm So the company finally terminates the troublesome employee. “Problem solved,” right? In a litigious climate, the answer could be, “Wrong, the problem’s been replaced by a different problem” because what follows could be months or years of discovery, deposition, and developing strategy before you find yourself explaining that decision to
In Employment Cases (and All Cases), Keeping it Simple is Smart 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 »
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 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 The whole point of having a mediation is to avoid the time, the expense, and – some feel – the uncertainty of a jury. So, literally speaking, there is no jury in your mediation. But the ‘figurative’ jury may yet have a role to play in making your mediation more
Bring the Jury Into Your Mediation 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 »