By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: For politically-oriented news junkies, this past Thursday featured must-watch fare. Former FBI Director James Comey raised his hand, took the oath, and testified about his carefully-documented meetings with his old boss, President Donald Trump. What stood out from his testimony was the number of times he called Trump a liar, […]
Take Care When Calling Out a Liar Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Government law enforcement officials have a pretty high profile right now. That’s especially true as they’re increasingly moving into the category of being former law enforcement officials after being removed by President Trump. There was U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in New York, and more recently, of course FBI Director James Comey who became former
Experts, Take a Lesson from Sally Yates Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: At a recent witness preparation meeting, the doctor-defendant sat struggling to recall the details of an informed consent discussion she had with the plaintiff. “I think I told him…” she began, before finishing the statement with, “…Do you know how many patients I see? I really cannot remember.” The medical
Rely on Standard Practice Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Trial is coming up, the witness is told: “Be at the courthouse by 7:30 Monday morning, meet us in the office on Friday, and oh, remember to carefully review your deposition.” The court date might be a relief after a long wait, the meetings with counsel should help to add
Use Your Deposition as Your Sword and Shield Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: For an attorney taking a deposition or conducting a cross-examination in trial, there is one key word that describes that attorney’s strategy: control. The questioning attorney wants, maybe needs, to control the witness in order to build useful testimony in a deposition or to highlight useful testimony in trial cross-examination. The
Witnesses: Know Your Seven Ways Out of the ‘Yes or No’ Trap Read More »
by Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: For the witness preparing for trial testimony, there is one common piece of advice: Study your deposition. In preparation sessions, I will always stress this advice, noting that a thorough knowledge of the deposition is both your sword and shield during trial testimony. Not only does it avoid or blunt the
Overlearn Your Deposition Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The witness is in the box, questioning began a few minutes ago, and the thought goes through the witness’s nervous mind, “I hope I make a good impression.” Well, not to make that witness more nervous, but chances are, that impression has already been made. It could have been made in
Expect First Impressions to Last Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Witnesses who are new to the demands of deposition or trial testimony sometimes have the misperception that testifying is just a matter of getting past each question as it comes. Seeing it as a kind of a quiz, the witness thinks the examining attorney just has a collection of questions, each one
Witnesses: Fight on the Bottom Rungs Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Every lawyer who has ever met with a witness to prepare that person for testimony has probably stressed the ability to be calm and focused while testifying. And after meeting with a great many future witnesses over the years, it’s possible to arrive at the feeling that some witnesses have that ability and
Find a Mindful Way Out of the Stress of Testimony Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Don’t you think that, when faced with a choice between a safer option and a riskier option, one should take the safer option? Well, on face that seems pretty reasonable. Who wouldn’t want the safer option, after all? The problem is that if you take that literally, then you’ve probably never climbed into
Safely Handle the “Safety Rule” Question Read More »