Uncategorized

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: With protests continuing in many major American cities, the civil unrest and violence has had a polarizing effect on the public. While some call for reform and for understanding of what motivates these marches, others call for a return to law and order, with force if necessary. If the past is a guide,

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Take a moment and visualize what your next in-person jury trial might look like. The jurors arrive at the courthouse and have their temperature checked while being asked whether they or anyone in their household have been coughing, sneezing, running a fever, or showing any other symptom of COVID-19. They

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It has long been an option, but it is happening quite often now: The judge lets you know that if you want to move your case forward, we will need an online hearing using Zoom web conferencing or similar media. The experience will not be as communicatively rich as an

The current coronavirus context has put some renewed attention on online research, or the idea that the “virtual mock trial” with jurors seeing presentations on their computer screens, and using keyboards and webcams in order to give feedback. While an online mock trial cannot fully replicate the in-person experience of courtroom persuasion, it does carry a number of other advantages. So, particularly in this time of reduced physical interaction but also at other times, it helps for attorneys to see the online mock trial as more than just an incomplete or diminished version of an in-person mock trial. There are some things that the online mock does better. In this post, I will share five of those advantages.

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Sometimes greater confidence is the last thing a witness needs. When your fact or expert witness is arrogant, unprepared, or careless about their upcoming testimony, they might need a reality check through a preparation session that puts a little rational fear into them. But in other situations — many other

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: I was talking with a long-term client the other day, and he shared that he’s experiencing something that I’ve been feeling as well: A harder time staying sharp and focused these days. With the continuing stress and looming uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, and its associated social isolation, professional disruption,

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It is taking a while to get back to normal, isn’t it? As states and businesses are starting to re-engage after the coronavirus isolation, courts are taking their time. The chances for routine scheduling, particularly for civil cases, seems like it might be a ways off. That reality has pushed

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: If you’re like me, you have been clicking into a ton of web-conferences lately. That’s true of the whole business world, but I think the legal workplace is a natural fit for web conferencing. After all, it is a field that is based on giving advice, so if we’re under

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: During the current coronavirus pandemic, there have been individual differences in the degree of compliance with the social restrictions coming down from city mayors and state governors. As I have written, some of the support or opposition for “Stay-at-Home” orders varies based on politics. But some of it also comes

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: While it still might be a stretch, it is a lot more thinkable now than it was two weeks ago. The jurors sit down separately in front of their screens, log in, and watch while the attorneys and witnesses present the evidence, and the judge makes rulings and provides instructions.