Is trial advocacy art, science, or some of each? The answer is definitely the third, although the science part often gets lost in the shuffle or is alleged science with no data to back it up [think {80% of juries decide the case after opening” or “a picture plus words causes 60% fact retention”]. Finding
Jurors, and perhaps people in general, are often poor at judging those whose lives and experiences differ from their own. June’s BRAIN LESSONS wrote about one aspect of that inadequacy, what Grant told us is called “Conditional-Contrastive Inculpation” [see https://law.temple.edu/aer/2022/06/17/brain-lessons-the-words-in-a-sentence-of-guilt/ ]. In its simplest words, we become judgmental by saying that “I wouldn’t have responded
If you say the word “analogy” to a lawyer, I would guess we all instantly think of case analogies—our minds, as we were trained, diving right back into the last trench from which we lobbed analogical grenades at some judge and her clerks. I suspect, however, that we might react differently to hearing the word
The power of ordering – where you place a fact or argument – should be beyond question. But read on – what goes first at trial may not always determine outcome. The importance of ordering is known well beyond the courtroom and is the starting place for much of cognitive psychology. It is proved in
I am going to touch on an idea. To do that, I am touching this thin little keyboard that the people at Apple designed to be ergonomically punishing, but sleek in appearance. On a recent trip to Florida, I touched a staggering amount of things. I have never stopped to ponder how many things I
Do the photographs, paintings or flags in a courthouse or jury deliberation room affect how a case is decided? That question led to the reversal of a criminal conviction in Tennessee, part of the ongoing discussion of race, racism and implicit bias that continues in the criminal justice system. And that reversal was based in
Today is Valentine’s Day. My mind turns easily to a conversation I had while standing in the aisle of a church on the east side of Cleveland. This friendly woman chatting with me was probably in her mid-50’s and had a charming mop of blonde curls. I was 26 with a not-so-charming amount of student
As best I can discern, there was no formal discipline of cognitive psychology during the time of the ancient Greeks – no polls on google, no studies with mock juries, no control groups and no brain scans. Yet Aristotle penned advice that seems core to the force of narrative and how we might capture an
Everyone nowadays seems to think they are a photographer and I’m no different. I own too much gear. I have a website. I watch innumerable YouTube videos about Photoshop. The great Dorthea Lange once said, “The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.” It’s absolutely true. I see all
I believe in data. I use data when teaching trial advocacy; and when there are no supporting data for a thesis (think, for example, of the claim that 80% of trials are decided at the end of the opening statements) I debunk the claim. We propagate too many myths as if they are eternal truths.