By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: I have had a long-running interest in Don Keenan and David Ball’s perspective on plaintiffs’ trial and discovery advocacy called “The Reptile,” the notion that one can motivate jurors to side with a plaintiff by tapping into the tendency of the primordial reptile brain to flee from threats and gravitate […]
Be Craftier than the Snake: Observations from DRI’s 2018 ‘Reptile’ Seminar Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Lately, I’ve seen increasing reports of people voluntarily separating themselves from the news. Often, this means taking a break from Facebook and its ubiquitous “Newsfeed.” In other cases, however, it involves people sounding the retreat on watching the news or reading the paper. For some, it means being more selective,
Account for News Fatigue Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: In popular culture, and to some extent in the preparation of trial lawyers, the ultimate focus is the trial. We think of that as the pinnacle moment for advocacy: in the courtroom, looking into the eyes of the judge or the jurors. Increasingly, however, that isn’t the reality. According to
Deploy Your Trial Message When It Matters Most: Pretrial Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Several years ago, I sat in a courtroom in Pennsylvania, assisting the defense in a capital murder jury selection. The process was involved, and potential jurors were interviewed one at a time after completing a comprehensive questionnaire. Naturally, we had scored all the questionnaires, so we had a very good
Avoid Juror Self-Sabotage Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Let’s consider the life cycle of the Reptile — not the slithering, cold-blooded animal, but the strategic approach to arguing plaintiffs’ cases advocated by David Ball and Don Keenan. That perspective, trying to win by appealing to the fear response of the “reptile brain,” is thought of as a trial strategy. Defense
The Plaintiff Is a Reptile, so Turn Your Witness into a Mongoose Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Add this one to the list of reasons why sequestering the jury can be a problem, and more generally, to the “Juries can do strange things” category. The night before deliberations, at the end of a five-week murder trial, four jurors gathered in a hotel room as the others slept.
Don’t Underestimate Just How Much Jurors Want to Reach an Independent Decision Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The jurors have made it through the trial, reached their verdict, received their thanks, and are headed to the exits. How do they feel about their experience? What do they think the lawyers did well, and what do they think the lawyers could have done better. Chances are, we can
Give the Jurors What They Want: 10 Golden Rules Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: What a potential juror thinks is, of course, critical to the decision to keep or to strike. But that notion of “what she thinks” means, not just her opinions, but also the broader attitudes and dispositions that lie beneath the surface. That’s why the gold standard in voir dire is to
Consider the Complacent: Belief in a Favorable Future (BFF) Isn’t Always Your Friend Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It is well-known at this point that civil trials are giving way to settlements. One of the factors that make settlement the more attractive alternative is that settlement is an uncertainty-reduction strategy: The known amount of cash in or out of pocket reduces the risk of the unknown for both
Consider How Jurors Arrive at Damages Numbers: In Stages and With Difficulty Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: In all facets of persuasion, and human communication for that matter, we are now used to dealing with a pretty polarized world. Addressing or responding to anything having to do with current events always involves a quick mental check on your audience and what their latitude of acceptance is likely
See Ideology as Cognitive and Not Just Political Read More »