By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Medical practitioners know that, for all its wonders, modern medicine is still a matter of chances not guarantees. In other words, in practice, medical interventions are often a matter of improving the patient’s chances at life and quality of life, but not necessarily guaranteeing success at either. That tends to
Know What Drives Juror Perceptions of Medical Device Liability Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It’s an occupational hazard: If you’re a lawyer, then you’re going to hear lawyer jokes. One that I’m fond of is, “There is really only one lawyer joke…all of the rest are true.” That one was used successfully as an icebreaker in voir dire during a recent attorney malpractice defense.
Don’t Let Anti-Lawyer Assumptions Keep You Out of the Courtroom Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Sometimes you come across a document that challenges your view of basic human goodness. The stomach-churning Grand Jury Report relating to the Pennsylvania State football scandal is one such document. What stands out, based on the allegations, is just how many times former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was caught. In locker rooms, workout
Define “Reasonable Person” As Your Jurors’ Idealized Version of Themselves Read More »
By: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – Never heard of “Alpha” and “Omega” strategies for persuasion? Until recently, neither had I. But after reading the research, it has changed my way of looking at persuasion. The terms are based on something called the “approach-avoidance” model (Knowles & Linn, 2004), suggesting that to an audience, every position you
Persuade Using Both Alpha and Omega Strategies Read More »
By: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – Exactly what do people celebrate when they see a fitting result? Sometimes it is justice, and sometimes it includes a measure of payback or revenge as well. Just over a week ago, news from the Oval Office ignited jubilant celebrations in Times Square and many other parts of the country. Scenes
A Mixture of Justice and Revenge: Target Juror Psychology in Awarding Damages Read More »
By: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – Imagine this: you’re sued for making false claims about your product. What do you do? Issue a terse public statement and hunker down for discovery? Not Taco Bell. When an Alabama law firm filed a class action accusing the company of using meat filling with only 36% beef, the company responded
Know When to Take the Offensive in Defense of Your Product: Lessons from Taco Bell Read More »
By: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – A warning that calls attention to a product’s potential danger is obviously an important part of a company’s litigation prevention and defense. But according to one recent statistic, a substantial portion of the public, and potential jury pool, may be a bit cynical on the question of whether warnings are designed to educate or
Aim Your Product Warnings at “FYI” and Not Just “CYA” Read More »
By: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – The need for a theme that communicates, simplifies, and unites your case has become common sense to litigators. But the way that we come up with a theme is a little more mysterious. Some see theme creation as an act of laborious analysis, developed out of a painstaking accounting
Know Your ‘God Terms’ and Your ‘Devil Terms’ Read More »
By: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – One stereotype of the litigious American society suggests that jurors are willing to hold manufacturers and sellers responsible for even the most obvious product dangers: a ladder that allows its user to fall, or a cup of coffee that turns out to be hot. While anecdotes abound — some true, and
Address the Most Dangerous Feature of Your Product: Dishonesty Read More »
By: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – When dealing with the number of plaintiffs in a class action, mass tort, or other large scale litigation, is “Super-Size Me” the plaintiff’s best choice? At a legal level, the U.S. Supreme Court will get a chance to weigh in, after the decision last week to determine whether as