By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: Right now, we are in a liminal moment with technology. No, I’m not talking about the new Apple goggles, necessarily, but about seemingly sudden emergence of engines like ChatGPT, which have opened a lot of possibilities on where it is likely to go. The proverbial jury is out about how and […]
For Now, Treat AI as “a Good and Confident Liar” Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Chances are good you’ve heard about “ChatGPT” in the past week or two. Just speaking for myself, my newsfeed has included many articles, including some with ominous titles like, “Will ChatGPT Make Lawyers Obsolete? (Hint, Be Afraid).” If the topic is new to you, a quick definition is that ChatGPT is
Expect AI to Change the Nature of Legal Work…and Soon Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: You probably learned it in one of your earliest writing classes: Active voice means the grammatical subject is doing the acting, and passive voice means the subject is acted upon. It is the difference between “The dog bit the boy” (active), and “The boy was bitten by the dog” (passive).
For Immediacy, Use Active Voice (but for Abstraction, Passive Voice Can Be Used) Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda- Bahm: This blog is written in Arial font. While I can’t fully control the fonts it shows up in when it travels out in various forms of syndication, for the version that lives on my, I like Arial. It is a contemporary San Serif font that is pretty simple and clean, and in
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Here is the most important thing you can ever possibly learn in law: Hyperbole will absolutely crush your chances of winning. Okay, maybe that’s a little over the top, but there is something about legal writing and oral advocacy that can sometimes encourage a tone of exaggeration that reduces credibility.
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Regular readers know this blog frequently focuses on the principle that social science matters in litigation. Knowing about public opinion and psychology helps the persuader understand and adapt to the audience. But, going further than that, social science also frequently finds its way into the court’s decisions, particularly when a
Cite Social Science to the Court Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Though Denver is still encased in snow, youth soccer season is just around the corner, and soon I’ll be watching my daughter and her teammates chase the ball around the field. At this age (six), they’re not yet playing positions, so one common bit of advice from their coach is
Complete Your Argument Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm (Really): In the early years of the Persuasive Litigator blog, I used to receive friendly inquiries from time to time from people who were interested in writing the blog for me — blog ghostwriters. Lately, however, those messages from ‘the other side’ have tapered off, and it appears they now get
Beware the Ghostwritten Law Blog Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: P: Hey, have you seen the amicus brief that was written entirely as a cartoon? S: A cartoon? You mean someone submitted a joke as an amicus brief? P: No, not a joke. The lawyer, Bob Kohn, lays out his argument in a series of frames with characters and dialogue,
Persuade Through Dialogue Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Matthew Salzwedel in Lawyerist recently wrote about ethos, pathos, and logos in legal writing. In case you’re trying to remember that early college course in philosophy or public speaking, let me remind you of Aristotle’s famous trilogy: Ethos relates to your credibility, pathos lies in your ability to appeal to emotions,
Ethos, Pathos, and Logos: Use All Three in Your Legal Writing and Oral Argument Read More »