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By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The Reptile approach of trying plaintiffs’ cases by framing them in terms of personal safety is no longer a new idea. Plaintiffs’ attorneys are also less likely to treat that approach as a cure-all in every trial. But the Reptile’s themes and techniques are still there, having snaked their way […]

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It is obvious that we live in a time of extraordinary polarization, and we are in the midst of an election that is bringing that schism into even starker contrast. Red and blue Americans differ in our demographics, our education, our policy commitments, and where we live. But perhaps we

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Well, Wednesday’s Vice Presidential debate was more civil than the top-of-the-card match last week. It offered a more substantive comparison of positions, with the candidates on both sides looking mature, reasonable, and even presidential. That may be a good thing considering that the the President and his challenger are 74

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: So Donald Trump now has the coronavirus. As of press time for this blog post, he is fighting the illness from the Presidential Suite at Walter Reed Medical Center. It is news that struck many as both surprising and predictable: Surprising in the way that it has upended a campaign

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It is worth remembering: The reasons that we have enforceable rules for a courtroom is to avoid the spectacle that Americans witnessed in the first Presidential debate this year. Commentators across the political spectrum variously called the match-up between President Donald Trump and former Vice-President Joe Biden “unwatchable,” a “debacle,”

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Here is a scenario that might be playing out in various forms around the country: A judge looks at her increasingly crowded docket during the coronavirus pandemic and thinks, “Well, I’m doing professional meetings on Zoom every day. Why couldn’t I move some of these trials by putting all or

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Attorneys know the feeling: With some of your witnesses, you just want to keep it simple, encourage them to keep their heads down, and limit the possible damage. With any luck, they’ll get through it with minimal damage to your case. But for other witnesses, testimony is an opportunity. The

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: There’s something that judges will often tell potential jurors at the start of the voir dire process: “We know jury duty is an inconvenience, but it is a necessary duty.” But what if it is more than an inconvenience? What if it was a threat to health, or even life?

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Across the country, restaurants are changing what it means to be a restaurant, movie theaters are changing what it means to be a movie theater, and conferences are changing what it means to be a conference. So maybe it’s time for courtrooms to look into changing what it means to be a courtroom.

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: So you’re conducting a deposition or cross-examination: Where is the witness? Are they right there in the room with you, or are they many miles away in a room with their computer? With the pandemic still raging across the U.S., many are social distancing their testimony via Zoom or other