By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Ever had the experience of asking someone to ask someone else something on your behalf? It’s like a sixth-grader’s attempt to find out if someone likes you. Sometimes you need a little plausible deniability but, in most cases now, it’s easier and more direct to just ask on your own. […]
Let the Lawyers Ask: Five Reasons for Attorney-Conducted Voir Dire Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It’s always nice to announce a birth, to welcome something new into the world. In this case, weighing in at 15 letters and 6 syllables, it’s a new word: “prehabilitation!” And it’s a pretty useful word for those wanting to understand, teach, and most importantly, fix oral voir dire. The
Don’t Prehabilitate Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Every juror with a strong and relevant belief or experience is asked it in oral voir dire: “Would you be able to set that aside and base your decision on just the facts?” Attorneys conducting oral voir dire would do well to ask themselves the same question: “Are you able to
Lawyers, Set Aside Your Own Bias in Voir Dire Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Imagine this future scenario. Those called for jury duty arrive at the courthouse. First comes security, with purses and wallets scanned on the belt while the citizens step through the metal detector. Then comes the “Neuro-Voir Dire” as candidate jurors step into a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) machine so
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Give me the bite-sized version, break it down into pieces, and tell it to me step-by-step. The brain loves to segment, and the process known as “chunking” seems to be a central part of how we recognize patterns, manage information, and form new insights. A recent perspective on the process
Chunk Your Trial Message Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: As more and more Americans are moving their lives onto social media, the legal world is adapting. Specifically, litigators are coming to realize what a world of information this opens up for voir dire, and to acknowledge as well the responsibilities it creates. The Bar of New York City, for
Cover Your Tracks (When Sneaking a Peek at Your Jurors’ Social Media) Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Whether we’re reading the news, shopping, or participating in social media, we are swimming in “likes” these days. Electronic journalism, online retail, and sharing sites like LinkedIn or Facebook all give users an unprecedented ability to participate, broadcasting their preferences with a click of a button or a comment. But
Beware the Herding Instinct in Opinion Formation Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: In the ongoing jury selection in the trial of George Zimmerman, the Sanford Florida neighborhood watchman charged in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, one potential juror recently experienced a particularly rough exit from the trial. After reporting in voir dire that he had little knowledge of the case, he was
Know a Stealth Juror When You See One Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: In a scene from that great movie of the ’80s, Ferris Beuller’s Day Off, the economics teacher, played inimitably by Ben Stein, tries to engage a class of profoundly bored and unresponsive high school students: In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of
Ban the Word “Anyone” From Your Oral Voir Dire Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Think of the situations where self-diagnosis wouldn’t work very well: A police officer asking, “Do you think you were speeding?” or a doctor inquiring, “Do you believe your cancer is in remission?” Yet we still rely on self-diagnosis when trying to discover and eliminate bias in civil and criminal cases
Never Rely on Self-Diagnosis of Bias Read More »