By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Whenever I am running a mock trial and playing the role of the judge, I read the instructions out loud to the mock jurors while they also read along using their own paper copies. I sometimes think that is overkill: If it were me, I think I would just listen
For Better Comprehension, Let Jurors Read Along During Instructions Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Social scientists who study political orientation are realizing that it is something more than discrete attitudes about issues or candidates. Research shows that one’s identification as “liberal” or “conservative” also has to do with brain wiring. For example, some studies have found that conservatives tend to be more motivated by fear
Address Fearful Conservatives and Angry Liberals Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It is well known that some people have it in for corporations, especially when these large companies find themselves on the defense side in a courtroom. Our own research has shown that a negative attitude is very common, with close to eight in ten individuals believing that large corporations tend
Understand Anti-Corporate Bias: The Extent of the Bias and the Effect of Familiarity Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: When Donald Trump finally gave his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, he spoke to a record number of elected women in Congress. And currently, no fewer than five high-profile female candidates have already declared to run against him in 2020. Perhaps the time for female leadership might be
Get Behind the Mask: Bias Against Female Leaders Is Greater When It’s Anonymous Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: If your jurors are dug in on questionable beliefs, that can matter in how they view your case. Maybe they think that every large company puts greed over lives. Perhaps they believe that every officer is always telling the truth during testimony. Or maybe they believe there is no such
Lazy or Partisan: Address the Cause of Fake News Susceptibility Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: If you’re a trial lawyer, chances are very good that you have marked up a flip chart or whiteboard in order to get a handle on your case. With its boxes, arrows, and circles, we might view the resulting “map” as a kind of metaphor: The ideas of the case
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: We know that when presenting to jurors, the goal is not just to present, but to engage, to relate, to adapt, and ultimately to persuade. You don’t want to simply lay information in front of jurors and hope they will pick it up and use it. Instead, you want to form
Connect with Jurors: Five Practical Ways Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Across the country, police departments are moving toward greater use of individual officer body cams. The small, lightweight cameras are used to record police encounters from the officer’s perspective and can become evidence. In some ways, of course, this means greater protection for both the public and for honest police
Remember that the Camera Has a Bias Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: There’s a logical reaction when one hears about some of the claims that end up as the basis for a medical malpractice claim. That reaction might go something like this: So the injury that the plaintiff complains of, that’s a known complication, isn’t it?
Emphasize Participation in Informed Consent Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Thanks to Batson and associated cases, we now have an uneasy working rule on voir dire in U.S. courtrooms: In exercising peremptory strikes, you can pick and choose on any basis…other than discriminatory ones. Basing strikes on race, ethnicity, gender, nationality and some other demographic categories is not allowed. That prohibition, however, is widely considered
Think Carefully About Disparate Impact in Voir Dire Read More »