Build Trust in Justice
By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: It’s been a season of some firsts: An ex-President, and the leading candidate for a major party nomination, has been criminally indicted (twice so far), and found civilly liable for defamation (once and counting). Rather than mounting a substantive defense, the candidate and ex-official has used the remaining ‘bully pulpit’ to repeatedly attack both the civil and criminal justice systems as well as those who work within them. To many of us, these daily attacks might seem so exaggerated and so self-serving that they can’t possibly be gaining traction. But they are. After bringing a majority of his
Team Players and Other People
The concept of team work receives considerable attention in many types of situations, from the workplace, to education, to sports. At Magnus, David and I wholeheartedly endorse team work among our employees and including ourselves. Although, in sports terms, I am the “team captain” at Magnus, I cannot perform my job absent help from other team members. This being said, I am always happy to help others when my schedule permits. Does the trash need to be emptied and taken to the outside bin? Do we have case documents that need to be shredded? Does the floor need to be
Fight False Equivalence (and Other ‘Low Effort’ Arguments)
By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: Trump’s second indictment is now unsealed, this one framing 37 federal felony counts for willfully retaining classified records at his private residence, and for trying to obstruct the efforts of the FBI and others in trying to recover these documents. Predictably, the response from the former President’s supporters has been to focus on what they say are the comparable actions of others. For example, you may have heard about 1,850 boxes of documents that President Biden supposedly has illegally kept in a Chinatown location. Except he doesn’t. The claim stems from Biden’s records from his time
Litigation-Tech and Abraham Lincoln Share Common Interests
Image credit: Al HolguinLitigation-Tech has been around for many years, helping attorneys navigate their way onto the technology highway in the courtroom. We have a lot of stories to tell, but here's some insight from one of our very first clients.Abraham Lincoln was a master of using language to persuade and inform. He was also a skilled storyteller, and he knew how to use visuals to illustrate his points. If he were alive today, he would likely be a big fan of courtroom technology and visuals. There are many ways that courtroom technology can be used to enhance the presentation
For Now, Treat AI as “a Good and Confident Liar”
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 when generative artificial intelligence will be changing our lives. Many seem to prosthelytize a bright future with many human tasks being eased, while many others are issuing dire warnings about reduced human creativity and a slipping grip on reality. Amid the intellectual turmoil, one truly
Paid Versus Free Opinions
To follow up on my previous post about people asking for my opinions, I have noticed an interesting phenomenon. Although it is far from universal, I have observed that people, such as friends and family, who ask for my opinion with no intention of paying me for my time or expertise, often devalue or discount what I have to say. Some of them even go as far as arguing with me when my opinions, based on scientific research, do not comport with their everyday, commonsense, notions. In contrast, most (but certainly not all) of my clients, who pay me for