By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Q: At the time you signed the contract, did you believe that all of your business partners had the capacity to comply with its terms? A: Well, here is what was going on when I signed the contract: The business was growing massively, and our capacity was increasing by the […]
Witnesses, Treat It As a Question, Not a Topic Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: As we are moving up yet another hill on the pandemic case-count rollercoaster, hopefully the last rise before the final descent into a vaccine landing zone, courts are once again pulling back in–person trials, while lawyers look for ways to stay prepared using virtual tools. Along with web-conferenced hearings and
Prepare Your Witness Virtually: Seven Best Practices Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: When preparing a witness, there can sometimes be a strong impulse to say, “Just answer the question.” That impulse comes from an appropriate desire to keep things simple, and to keep the witness from wandering or waffling. But it can be bad advice. The choice to just answer the question on
Witnesses: Answer Both the Language of the Question and Its Implication Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: As a sign of just how serious the coronavirus pandemic is getting, the President has finally appeared in public with a mask. The precaution of wearing a face mask is still highly politicized, but it is slowly catching on. In the planning process of courts that are moving toward resuming trials,
Face It: Masks Don’t Hinder Credibility Assessment Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: These days, instead of spending our days in offices, conference rooms, and courthouses, we are likely spending those days in front of laptop web-cameras, negotiating our business lives in this new medium. I have noticed that even some contacts that used to be handled by telephone, are now becoming web-conferences.
Web-Conferencing? Don’t Let Your Energy Zoom Away Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Okay, show of hands: Two weeks ago, how many of you were familiar with Zoom, Webex, GotoMeeting, and/or MS Teams? And how many of you are familiar with them today? These tools for multi-party videoconferencing over the internet have been around for years, and in some law offices have even
Adapt to Remote Communication (Including Testimony) Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: A couple of witnesses had about the most high-profile testimony turn imaginable the other day. As the public phase of the House impeachment hearings got underway on Wednesday, the first up to bat were George Kent, top State Department official for Eastern Europe, and the acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine,
Witnesses, Return to Your ‘Home Base’ Where Possible Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: So you’re conducting the cross-examination and the witness is fighting like a 300-pound marlin at the end of your fishing line. And they’re not fighting by legitimately drawing distinctions or by using their own words, they’re fighting with obvious evasion and misdirection. It’s frustrating. You feel like slipping into a
Examining Attorneys, Keep Your Cool Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: God is Love Love is Blind Stevie Wonder is Blind Therefore, Stevie Wonder is God That’s an exaggerated version of a kind of fallacious thinking that is often used in witness examination. It is a form of the “transitive property” in logic, If A=B, and B=C, then A=C. This idea, however, is
Train Your Witness to Combat Simplistic Equivalence Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: For someone starting out in a career, or in some other situation where credibility will be required, there is an expression: “Fake it until you make it.” In other words, if you act like you’ve got it, then people are going to believe that you’ve got it…and then you’ll have it.
Witness Testimony: Understand the Confidence/Competence Circle Read More »