By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: If you’ve spent any time in civil courtrooms, you’ve seen it before. The witness in the box fudges an answer and says something that differs a bit from their deposition, and the solemn ritual of impeachment begins. With great fanfare, the official copy of the deposition is unsealed. Do you
Know When to Pursue Witness Inconsistency and When to Let it Go Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: You see the witness on the stand testifying. As she speaks, a storm of movements large and small cross her face and influence her posture and body. “She is nervous,” one juror thinks, “because she is just trying to say what the attorneys told her to say.” Meanwhile,
Adapt to Inconsistent Assessments of Witness Demeanor Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Think about stage fright. Now, multiply it by two, or perhaps ten in some cases. Being in the witness chair in trial compounds what we traditionally think of as speech apprehension, because it adds not only greater degrees of formality, but also the knowledge that there is someone on the other
Witnesses, Don’t Get Too Comfortable Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: If you’ve been following the country’s current gun control debate, then you may know about the stormy encounter between CNN commentator Piers Morgan and radio host Alex Jones, including the red-faced and shouted charge from Jones, “1776 will commence again if you try to take our firearms.” All caps would
Defuse Your Angry Witness Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Have you ever seen an argument get somewhat bitter or personal in an online forum or via electronic communication? That is a little like asking, “have you ever visited an online forum or used electronic communication?” When we’re safe behind keyboards, or to a lesser extent, on the telephone, arguments
Negotiate, Mediate (and Testify) Eye to Eye Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm The law treats factual evidence as a repository possessed by the witness and elicited through testimony. Like a bucket, filled, in the case of your witnesses at least, with the sweet clear water of truth, you just dip in a ladle and out comes the descriptions, the observations, the facts.
Don’t Mistake the Witness for a Bucket of Facts Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Think beyond the stereotypes. That is what you’re used to hearing (and I’m used to saying) about jury selection. But that same need to subvert the stereotypes applies not just to picking panelists, but to persuading as an attorney or an expert witness as well. In each of these situations,
Subvert Stereotypes: Free the Attorney, the Expert, and the Juror Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The Hippocratic oath also applies to doctors caught in the litigation process. In deposition, the rule is “first, do no harm” to your case. No one wins their own case in deposition. But a medical defendant might end up losing it by falling prey to some common mistakes. Depositions are taken in order
Turn in a Powerful Deposition, Doctor Defendant Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Not all witnesses are saints. While this is especially well-known in the realm of criminal prosecution, it applies in civil trials as well. A witness may carry some unsavory background, or the context may simply be such that their testimony – truthful or not – feels like betrayal. The same
Test the Credibility of Your Turncoat Witness Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: If that commercial for the knife set just laid it all out at the start, it would sound like this: “Okay, here is the deal, you get the knives, the storage block, an extra set of steak knives, free sharpening for life, and free shipping if you call in the next hour.”
But Wait, There’s More: Build Your Case Over Time, Instead of All at Once Read More »