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By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: A few weeks ago, presidential primary candidate Joe Biden seemed to be on his way to a quick exit from the race. He didn’t have the crowds, didn’t have the stand-out debate performances, and most importantly, didn’t have even a top-three finish in the early primaries and caucuses. But then […]

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Last week, I wrote about the defense team in the recent criminal case against Roger Stone, and their post-conviction focus on the alleged bias of the jury foreperson. More recently, I saw news of a parallel tack being taking by the former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, following his conviction for

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: What makes an expert witness persuasive to a jury? Is it their background and training? The work that they did on the case? Their communication skills in teaching the jury? The research suggests that expert influence depends on a variety of factors, and a scale even exists to measure these

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The chance to interview a juror is a precious opportunity. Whether it is a mock juror interviewed in the course of a focus group or mock trial, or an actual juror interviewed after they are dismissed at the end of trial, an interview can help you to get inside their

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The lawyer preparing their case likely goes through a long list of, “What will they think about…” questions, relating to the facts, the evidence, the arguments, and the law. Eventually, that attorney might get to the question, “And what will they think about me?” Or, maybe not. I think attorneys tend

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm:  The habit of sort of just filling in your speech with expressions of uncertainty, when you’re not really that uncertain, is probably a bad habit. I mean, I am fairly sure that these hedges cut down on your perceived confidence, and I think they most likely make you a somewhat

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Let’s say the client you represent in litigation did something wrong. And, let’s further say, that they understand that they need to admit it and ask a jury to get past it. There’s still a case to be tried: Maybe it focuses on damages, or on causation, or on some

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: What started with an anonymous whistleblower report regarding President Trump’s pressure on the government of Ukraine to investigate his political opponents has blossomed into a parade of witnesses testifying in a soon-to-be public House impeachment inquiry. So, who was this whistleblower? A lot of people really want to know. Kentucky

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: I spoke with some defense attorneys recently who were surprised to learn of existence of third- party litigation funding groups. These financial companies who will front cash for litigation and trial expenses in hopes of recovering if the case succeeds, have been around for awhile. But the field is still

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Since it’s Halloween, let’s consider a frightful topic. Experienced trial lawyers usually get past their stage fright early on, and even come to relish the idea of standing in front of a jury, or most any audience. But younger attorneys, law students, or those who simply haven’t had that many