By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Congress and the American public have been gripped by some unknowns recently. A whistleblower in the intelligence community made a claim that the Inspector General considered both credible and urgent. But, initially at least, that’s about all we knew because the whistleblower’s complaint was not provided, as the law requires, […]
Address the Central Unknown Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: In one scenario, a worker is on a ladder, painting a ceiling at a local mall. The mall’s management did not order enough safety lines and the worker decides to go ahead and paint without one. After falling and being seriously injured, he sues for damages. The experiment indicates that responsibility
Ask If Your Jurors’ Causal Thinking Is Based on Facts or Possibilities Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: You’re working your way through discovery. Your arguments and themes for trial are taking shape. By the time you’re in front of the jury, you’ll know what to say. But first there’s a mediation. Now you need to refashion your persuasive appeals for a different purpose. Your mediator is not a judge
Frame Your Arguments for Mediation Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: There is a story making the rounds on social media, unfortunately a true story, about two Argentinian young women in their twenties. Maria José Coni and Marina Menegazzo were traveling the world together and found themselves in Ecuador without a place to stay for the night. They accepted an offer from two men
Understand Victim-Blame Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Another mass shooting at a school, this time at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. Another isolated and disturbed gun collector, and another set of victims to be remembered: nine in this case. In President Obama’s remarks, we see increasing frustration as he spoke of “more American families — moms, dads, children —
Note the Difference Between Tragedy and “Stuff Happens” Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It is said that you know someone when you know what they hope for and what they fear. Since we’re just past Halloween, let’s go with the latter. A new survey coming out of Chapman University focuses on the greatest fears held by Americans. Based on a random sample of
Know What Scares (the Top Five Fears) Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: For my first line of this blog post, I want to say something. I have to say, honestly, it is going to be important. But I don’t want you to take it the wrong way. So, here it is: When communicating, don’t tee up your statement, just say it. That’s
Avoid Verbal Tee Ups Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The sacred can sometimes find its way into legal evaluations. Apart from jurors using or quoting the Bible during deliberations (see Miller et al., 2013), sacred values can also take a broader role in the form of moral imperatives we are unwilling to compromise. One researcher (Tetlock, 2003) in a relatively
Consider the Sacred Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Many legal cases involve probability. The known risks of a medical condition affect liability. The chances of the same occurrence without the defendant’s actions affect causation. The likelihood that a defendant would earn a given income if an accident hadn’t happened affects damages. Litigators might take for granted that the
Think Your Jury Understands Probability? Don’t Bet on It 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 »