By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – The recent trial involved two New York City police officers accused of raping a fashion executive, after helping her out of a taxi at the end of a night of drinking. Without physical evidence (the department’s search of the apartment yielded nothing, and the accuser herself had showered), the case depended […]
Guess You Had to be There (Prefer Present Witnesses Over Absent Ones) Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – For doctors, arguably the areas that require the greatest levels of skill and art lie not in treatment, but in diagnosis. The same goes for lawyers. Encyclopedic legal knowledge and impressive oratorical skills are critical, but probably less important in the long run than a clear-eyed ability to assess
Diagnose Your MedMal Case Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – During a recent trial, a witness was about to leave the stand as a slip of paper with a question emerged from the jury. The note was enough to make the examining counsel’s blood run cold, as the juror asked the witness, “Isn’t [your attorney] signalling you on how to answer by nodding his head to indicate ‘yes,’ or ‘no’?
Remember in Court, If You’re in View, Then You’re on Stage Read More »
By: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – When the case comes down to ‘expert versus expert,’ one important question is, what makes jurors believe one expert witness over another? Applying the rational model of law, we would like to think that jurors would evaluate the credentials, the methodology, and the strength of the conclusions offered, and
By: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – In his recent State of the Union address, President Obama followed the common pattern of giving attention and applause lines to nearly every issue on the national agenda. But there was one issue that received no mention at all: climate change. The absence, noted by many commentators, extended even to
Adapt Your Scientific Testimony to Jurors’ Skeptical Ears Read More »
By: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – On some days, just watching the news can stop us cold. Those who work in law should be proud to be part of a system that, however imperfectly, resolves disputes with appeals to reason and judgment rather than force. But the opposite end of the spectrum was seen in last week’s devastating shooting
Don’t Advocate from a Position of Hate Read More »
By: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – In litigation it is often true that, “the devil is in the data,” in the sense that numbers and how they’re presented can be extremely important. In employment cases, jurors often need to grasp the overall percentages that prove or disprove a discrimination claim. In mass tort pharmaceutical cases, expert
Choose a “Moving” Way to Convey Evidentiary Data Read More »
By: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm For the litigator preparing a witness or working up an opening statement, there is an important question of whether you should just make your own case, or identify and respond to the arguments likely to be offered by the other side. For the witness, should you cover in direct what you expect will be hit on cross,
With Eggs and Arguments, Keep the Sunny Side Up, But Cook Both Sides Read More »
by: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm From “To Kill A Mockingbird,” all the way to “My Cousin Vinnie,” the world of cinema is filled with great trial stories. In virtually all of them, the heart of the drama is played out in a courtroom, in front of a jury, through powerful openings, closings, and witness examinations.
Take a Discovery Lesson From ‘The Social Network’ Read More »
by: Dr. Ken Broda Bahm Your expert witness is on the stand as cross begins. Where he previously was clear, confident, and informative with you in direct, he is now simply saying “yes,” and “that’s right” to a series of statements made by opposing counsel. “So you agree that my company completed years of testing
Offense Can Be the Best Defense: Train Your Witness to Fight Back in Cross Read More »