By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: We live in a hierarchical society, and the courtroom replicates (some would say, entrenches) some of those hierarchies. The law is written in an opaque manner that only the educated can understand, the bar physically separates the attorneys and the players from everyone else, and the judge is literally
Ask Your Potential Jurors: Do You Believe in the Legal Process? Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: We don’t always have systematic reasons for believing what we believe. Often, it boils down to a feeling, a preference, or an implicit trust based on how we learned it. Motivation plays a big role. But there is one setting where that rationale is supposed to be systematic, logical, and
Ask Your Potential Jurors: Do You Believe in Science? Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: People have always believed things that aren’t true: the earth is flat, nonconforming women are witches, the moon landing was faked. Currently, we have our own set of false beliefs that have permeated some sectors of society. The difference, perhaps, is that there’s now the feeling that we’re in a
Ask Your Potential Juror: Having an Epistemological Crisis? Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Litigation and trial have a long history of being seen as a kind of logical and verbal combat. Movies and popular culture have contributed to this view that attorneys are going to war on behalf of their clients, and the only holds that are barred are those that are barred
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It’s Christmas as I write this, so how about some seasonally appropriate social science. There is a study (Merckelbach & van de Venezuela, 2001), a little old at this point, but quite interesting in its implications. Participants came into a lab in order to listen to white noise over headphones.
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Mock trials, and other forms of pretrial juror research, like focus groups, are increasingly common. Particularly in complex or high-stakes litigation, it makes sense to road-test your case in a safe setting. What you learn can help you arrive at a reasonable resolution pretrial, or can help you prepare for
Give Your Client Seven Key Messages About the Mock Trial Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Next time you’re in a public place — an airport, a hotel lobby, a train, or a shopping mall — stop and take a moment to look around at the other people in the space. How many of them are staring down into their hand-held mobile phone? Most of them?
Don’t Phub Your Jury Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: On the path from the initial dispute to the ultimate disposition of a case, there are many forks in the road. In choosing whether to take the path of settlement or to continue on to trial, one of the most trusted advisors is, and should be, the trial lawyer. After
Conduct an Informed Litigation Risk Assessment Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: In my line of work, I find myself on my feet giving presentations quite often: marketing talks, CLE seminars, strategy sessions. I prepare for those opportunities pretty extensively, but here is one thing I don’t do as part of that preparation: I don’t sit and review my notes. I do prepare notes,
When Preparing to Present, Talk, Don’t Read Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Nodding your head up and down means “Yes.” At least in our culture it does. And world travelers will know that this one thankfully translates to nearly all other countries and cultures as well. There are exceptions, like one country I visited a couple of times on consulting trips: Bulgaria.