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By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Lawyers are notorious for using language that carries some comprehension challenges. When this “legalese” is directed to and understood by other lawyers, that use can be understandable, even if it is still annoying. But when it is directed at the public it can be a big source of failed communication. For example, […]

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Maybe it is because monitors are a lot less expensive than they used to be, but I’m seeing more and more of them cropping up, often in the same places. Conference rooms or spaces for larger presentations that used to have a single monitor or a projector screen now will

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Like the continuing need to have a ‘pocket mask’ in many places, the online judicial meeting or hearing has become an accepted fact of almost-post-pandemic life. But, chances are, the remote hearing will last longer (knock on wood). At this point, we are seeing systematic attention on the question of

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The instructions for jurors are clear: They are to take an issue that has no effect on them, listen dispassionately to the evidence and arguments, apply the facts to the law, and make a decision. That is the model, but in reality other motivations creep in. In talking with jurors in mock

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Right off the top, I want to make clear that none of the tips involve starting off your ending with, “In conclusion….” I have always disliked that phrase, and put it in a category — along with phrases like “As I said before…” or “To be honest…” — that make

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: With Zoom now as common as email, we can find ourselves inhabiting the four corners of a glowing screen more often than we’re inhabiting an actual office or meeting room. Status calls, strategy meetings, witness preparation sessions, and even hearings and parts of trials are taking place via video-conference. While

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Consider Rodin’s “Thinker” — The sculptured image of the solitary and self-contained individual engaged in what we take to be humanity’s sine qua non: independent thought. It is inspiring, but it is also an idealization. The more carefully we think about thought itself, the less truly independent it turns out to be.

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Before a recent jury selection, I was digging through a stack of juror questionnaires and social media results when something we’ve been seeing for awhile came into clearer view: The conservatives in the pool were falling into some strikingly different camps. More specifically, some were the traditional pro-law, pro-institution, pro-corporation tight Republican

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Maybe a named party to a case settled out before trial, maybe they’re immune from suit, or maybe they were handled during a different part of the process — but all the jurors know is that a missing party might be partially at fault, and they aren’t there in the

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: If we rewind to about two years ago, as we were getting confirmations of a novel virus in China, few of us at the time would have had the imagination to envision the scope of disruption and devastation that would follow in what is, for now, the next two years. The