By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: It’s probably one of the most unfair biases, but also one of the most ingrained. Human beings prefer attractive people over unattractive people, and that is likely tied to our evolutionary biology. Referred to sometimes as “lookism” the bias confers a number of advantages on those who are socially perceived to be attractive. Ultimately, it boils down to much more than just a preference in partners. There is also a “halo effect” that creates a tendency to attribute a wide variety of other positive traits to those who are viewed as attractive. They’re seen as being

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: When it comes to sizing up our potential jurors, we are used to looking at their politics. Both conventional wisdom and practical experience suggest that conservatives are more likely to prioritize individual responsibility while liberals focus on social responsibility. That means that in many cases — not all, but many — political leaning plays a role in how a juror might assign responsibility in a civil case. Increasingly, though, there is a need to look beyond the liberal/conservative binary to see meaningful divisions within the two sides of the spectrum. Particularly among Republicans, there is an

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: Here’s one area where there’s a conflict between social science and practical intuitions: Should the civil defendant offer their own damages number to anchor jurors on a lower amount? The social science on the subject is relatively clear: If the jurors get to the point of awarding damages, a lower number from the defense will help keep the award lower than it otherwise would have been. But in practice, defendants can be reluctant to offer that number, fearing that it will look like the defense concedes the point that damages should be awarded, with the alternate

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: After threatening that me might end his musical career if the jury went the other way, popular musician Ed Sheeran can now continue his line of work. According to a federal jury in New York earlier this month, Sheeran’s 2014 song “Thinking Out Loud” did not copy the musical structure of Marvin Gaye’s 1973 classic, “Let’s Get It On.” As one of the most highly-watched artistic copyright cases in many years, the trial was broadly seen as setting the course for other cases. Sheeran, however, succeeded in convincing the jury that his song was made up of “common building

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: The importance of including graphics when presenting to a judge or jury is understood these days. Still, I think the design and execution of these graphics can be too often treated as an afterthought. Instead of using a timeline as a central and fundamental way of structuring the case for fact-finders, it is developed at the end and treated as a plug-and-play addition to an already-developed trial story. You might create a diagram showing the key case concepts and relationships as a way to visually spruce up the verbal presentation instead of using it as a

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: Negligence is supposed to be a determination of action, not intention. Looking only at outward conduct, jurors in a negligence case are typically asked to decide whether an act, or a failure to act, was reasonable, and in line with what reasonable peers would have done in a similar situation. The intention or mental state of the actor is not supposed to matter in that determination. At least, that is what the law says. But among those who study jurors and other decision-makers, there has been a strong suspicion that this ignores a practical reality. Jurors

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: Trial lawyers arguably wear two hats. The first hat is that of the advocate — zealous, convinced, and laser-focused on their client’s best case. The other hat, though, belongs to the counsellor who assesses the case and advises the client — sober, grounded, and realistic. It takes the advocate’s hat to get through discovery and trial, but it takes the counsellor’s hat to weigh in on whether the case should be settled prior to trial. The two mindsets are obviously in conflict, but lawyers have the training and experience to set aside the adversarial mindset in

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: For some attorneys on the defense side of civil litigation, there can be something I call the “adversarial impulse,” which is the belief and behavior that, “If it can be denied, then deny it.” The most seasoned trial lawyers, however, know that it doesn’t always pay to fight every battle. Not only are some battles unlikely to be won, but fighting them can actually make your situation worse One area where practical strategy can often run up against this adversarial impulse is the decision on whether to concede liability. Sometimes that decision is patently obvious, and sometimes

By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: There are many phases to a trial. Some of those phases are just for lawyers, but some of them really should include the clients as well. The voir dire process, where the ultimate jury is selected, is one of those latter phases. The clients for all parties should be there. But I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in my own cases — in the last three picks, in three different states, the Plaintiffs themselves attended none of the jury selections. In those cases, I was working for the Defense, and we had a client representative present and

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: There is a common perception that when you apologize, it means you’ve done something wrong. The Latin “mea culpa,” after all, means “through my fault.” In a litigation context, that perception on the part of lawyers and insurance companies can lead to the belief that you should avoid apologizing if you don’t want to accept liability. But we know from the research that an “I’m sorry” can do a lot of good: Psychologically, it can be satisfying for a victim, and persuasively, it can help boost the credibility of a source. And for some cases,