Know the Other Side’s Three Goals for Your Deposition
By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: So, your deposition has been scheduled, and you’re just starting to wrap your head around what is in store for you. Your lawyer has already stressed that you are not in the driver’s seat at this stage: The deposition is the other side’s process. Because of that, it helps to devote some thought to what they are looking for. A realistic and complete understanding of your adversary’s goals can help you prepare for your own testimony. Every case and every opposing counsel will be different, and there may be unique factors in your own situation. At
Look Beyond Your Jurors’ Political Identification: Education Matters
By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: Whenever we step up to evaluate a person as a potential juror, it can be an occupational hazard to simplify that person too much. We do our best with the time and information available, and to be sure, jury selection would be better and less susceptible to social biases if judges permitted more time and better information. But even with a good amount of information on a venire member, it can be tempting to seize on one variable and treat it as destiny. But in nearly all circumstances, it is more complicated than that, and the team working
Embracing the Gains of Virtual Trials – Part 1
As pandemic restrictions start to ease up across the country, it is a good time to evaluate the way courts handled trials during the pandemic and what we can learn from that going forward. While many trials were postponed, a small number of venues (particularly at the state and local levels) took the bold step of conducting virtual trials on civil matters during the pandemic. This experiment with virtual trials may feel like a temporary solution to what was a temporary problem. But should it be? One of the greatest concerns that attorneys, judges, and legal scholars have expressed in
Commercial Litigation: Benefits of a Trial Consultant, Part 3
In the 3rd post in the commercial litigation series, I want to bring some points together. We’ve discussed that executives are accustomed to being in charge, to being the “boss,” and that as litigants, it is often frustrating for them not to be. Also discussed is the fact their perspective may not align with decision makers’ perspectives, that is, arbitrators, juries or judges. The benefit of the reality check is a part of that perspective adjustment. Finally, in this post, I want to add another way in which commercial cases are unique. While insurance may or may not be involved,
Witnesses, Don’t Create Obstacles to a Positive Perception
By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: Witnesses, I’d like to have a word. You know the most important audience for your testimony — the jurors in the courtroom with you, or the future jury who might someday see a clip of your deposition? That audience is kind of pulling for you. You aren’t a lawyer, and you aren’t a judge. You are a normal human being just like they are, and they want you to do well. They know that you’re the one who was there on the scene, closest to the facts. You’re the one they’ve been waiting to hear from.
How is sexual harassment perceived differently by men and women? Online Jury Research Update
Beliefs about what qualifies as sexual harassment matter to how judges and juries make decisions in sexual harassment cases.Rotundo, Nguyen and Sackett (2001) found in a meta-analysis of 62 research studies including over 33,000 participants that....