Dr. Steve Wood and Dr. Bill Kanasky, Jr. talk about witness testimony and the problems and dangers of pivoting during deposition questioning. They discuss how defense attorneys don’t realize how they are opening the door to counterattacks from opposing counsel when they encourage their witnesses to pivot and answer questions with phrases like "Yes, but..." Steve and Bill describe the psychology behind why providing detailed explanations in normal, everyday situations is very different than in th...
Jan 16, 2023•27 min•Ep. 150
Dr. Bill Kanasky, Jr. is joined by trial attorneys Shane O'Dell of Naman, Howell, Smith & Lee and John Nunnally of Ragsdale Liggett to talk about new year's resolutions and what they are changing or doing differently in how they manage their litigation. Shane and John share how they are encouraging their clients to be more proactive in their litigation and not wait for plaintiff's counsel to make the first move every time. They talk about pursuing early mediations for cases that lend themsel...
Jan 09, 2023•32 min•Ep. 151
Dr. Steve Wood and Dr. Bill Kanasky, Jr. close out 2022 with a podcast Year in Review. They talk about what they've learned this year including starting to see some clients operating more proactively and early in litigation and the benefits they are realizing by doing so. Steve and Bill discuss other topics covered during the year, and in particular, the importance of episodes dedicated to mental and physical health. They also preview a few topic ideas for podcasts in 2023 and share some additio...
Dec 19, 2022•34 min•Ep. 149
Dr. Bill Kanasky, Jr. talks about the risky language in company policies and procedures and the language and information on company websites. Many companies create a level of expectation for safety that is unattainable and put these organizations at risk of being attacked by plaintiff attorneys during litigation. Using language about safety being the top priority in manuals, training materials, policies, procedures, and on websites only creates litigation exposure that can be potentially devasta...
Dec 12, 2022•22 min•Ep. 148
Wellness Specialist Jen Donovan joins Dr. Steve Wood for the second part of this episode focused on wellness and managing stress. In this episode, Jen demonstrates different simple exercises and movements as ways to relieve stress, including multiple breathing tips. Jen also talks about sound healing and sound therapy exercises. Lastly, Jen shares tips for how to get started, managing the timing of when to start, and how to make better, healthier choices. Jen's concluding thoughts: what you eat,...
Dec 05, 2022•38 min•Ep. 147
Wellness Specialist Jen Donovan joins Dr. Steve Wood for a two-part episode about wellness topics, including the benefits of Rawfood Nutrition, and demonstrates some exercises to help manage the stresses of work and the holidays. Jen shares tips on eating properly, sleeping properly, breathing properly, and moving our body properly and the importance of devoting at least 3 weeks to any change to make it stick. Jen talks about the difference between mindlessness and mindfulness, about setting the...
Nov 28, 2022•31 min•Ep. 146
Dr. Bill Kanasky, Jr. shares what and whom he is grateful and thankful for. Watch the video of this episode: https://www.courtroomsciences.com/r/oAJ
Nov 21, 2022•30 min•Ep. 145
Dr. Steve Wood and Dr. Bill Kanasky, Jr. continue answering podcast listener and viewer questions: - How do you advise handling voir dire in federal court when you only have 30-60 minutes to ask questions of jurors? - What are the opportunities with using a supplemental juror questionnaire? - What is the best way to question my client during direct or rehabilitation examination? - Are engineers bad jurors for the defense? - What types of demonstrative exhibits work best for jurors? Should I alwa...
Nov 14, 2022•44 min•Ep. 144
Dr. Steve Wood and Dr. Bill Kanasky, Jr. continue their series of answering podcast listener and viewer questions: - How is the movement of people from blue states to red states impacting the jury pool? - Can a Middle Eastern defendant win at trial with a predominantly white/rural jury? - How do I mitigate damages at trial on a case when my client is admitting liability? - Should I ask the judge to show a short clip of the plaintiff's day-in-the-life video during jury selection? - In voir dire, ...
Nov 07, 2022•33 min•Ep. 143
Shane O'Dell, Member at Naman, Howell, Smith, and Lee PLLC, joins Dr. Bill Kanasky, Jr. to talk about helping younger associates grow through mentoring and development opportunities and how to keep those younger attorneys in your practice. Shane talks about the challenges for early career attorneys and what they can do to overcome. Shane shares his experience with recognizing the importance of developing relationships and trust over time as a path toward building a reputation and earning future ...
Oct 31, 2022•39 min•Ep. 142
Dr. Steve Wood and Dr. Bill Kanasky, Jr. answer frequently asked questions from podcast listeners and viewers. Some of the specific questions asked and answered: - What are some of the things that jurors are highly critical of at trial that I may not be aware of? - How do jurors perceive out-of-town defense attorneys? - How do I get a former employee to cooperate for a deposition? - Do jurors like attorneys who wear glasses? - Do expert witnesses really impact jury decision making? - How long sh...
Oct 24, 2022•24 min•Ep. 141
Dr. Bill Kanasky, Jr. shares tips and ideas for young attorneys to build a book of business. Doing business development is not easy, but taking the time and steps to doing it can really pay off. Two specific ideas from Bill: 1) Writing - Write articles on topics that prospects and clients can get value from and get those articles published in a legal journal; look for niche publications which are often hungry for content. If you need help getting started on topics or with writing, partner with a...
Oct 17, 2022•35 min•Ep. 140
Dr. Steve Wood describes four psychological concepts that help to explain why some witnesses make mistakes in their testimony performance: 1) Yerkes-Dodson Law suggests there is a relationship between performance and arousal. Increased arousal can help improve performance, but only up to a certain point. At the point when arousal becomes excessive, performance diminishes. 2) The Dunning-Kruger effect is a type of cognitive bias in which people believe they are smarter and more capable than they ...
Oct 10, 2022•16 min•Ep. 139
Rebecca Brewster, President and COO of the American Transportation Institute (ATRI), joins the podcast to talk with Dr. BIll Kanasky, Jr. about ATRI, a research and education organization. Rebecca shares details on her background and different ATRI research studies and how their research benefits and informs the transportation and trucking industry. Bill and Rebecca discuss specific research topics that ATRI has studied including nuclear verdicts, nuclear settlements, driver shortage, CDL age li...
Oct 03, 2022•37 min•Ep. 138
Dr. Bill Kanasky, Jr. covers two witness deposition testimony topics: witnesses who guess and witnesses who freeze. 1) You have to identify when a witness is guessing in their deposition. Key phrases to watch out for besides "I guess," are "I think," "I believe," "I probably," "I assume." You need to explain to your witness that even if they tell you they won't guess, their brain is wired to guess and they need to be educated on what a guess sounds like and must work with them to correct these g...
Sep 26, 2022•27 min•Ep. 137
Dr. Steve Wood shares his observations, insights, and experience with jury selection and what works and doesn't work when picking a jury. Steve talks about the dangers of selecting a jury based solely on demographics and the criticality of learning about a juror's experiences, attitudes, and beliefs. He emphasizes the importance of the specific questions asked and approach taken by the attorney during voir dire and recommends that counsel treat voir dire more like a focus group and dig deeper in...
Sep 19, 2022•19 min•Ep. 136
In the final part of this three-part topic, Dr. Bill Kanasky, Jr. and Dr. Steve Wood discuss the last of the 13 cognitive distortions that cripple witnesses during testimony. Cognitive distortions are irrational thinking patterns where the brain makes connections that may or may not exist and can negatively impact testimony performance unless corrected via cognitive reframing. The cognitive distortions Bill and Steve discuss in this episode are: 11) Emotional reasoning - when witnesses’ emotiona...
Sep 12, 2022•35 min•Ep. 135
Dr. Bill Kanasky, Jr. shares his experience working with plaintiff attorneys on cases. Bill works on the plaintiff's side when a corporation, which is typically the defendant, is the plaintiff and engages Courtroom Sciences for litigation consulting. This type of work has led to some very specific learnings about how plaintiff attorneys in commercial litigation operate and behave. Four key characteristics of successful plaintiff attorneys: 1) their desire to win is unmatched and often higher tha...
Sep 05, 2022•25 min•Ep. 134
Mike Bassett, Senior Partner, The Bassett Law Firm joins Dr. Bill Kanasky, Jr. and Dr. Steve Wood to talk about early case management, the timing of working up a case, and what is best to do first and early. Early case management sets the tempo and helps gain momentum for the defense. Mike shares how in the first 30-60 days of a case conducting focus groups always him to know what resonates with jurors and what doesn't and the value of interviewing witnesses early. Mike talks about how defense a...
Aug 29, 2022•46 min•Ep. 133
Paul Motz, Shareholder, Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney, joins the podcast to talk about what it takes to become a successful trial attorney. Finding good associates is a challenge these days. A couple of reasons for this is the job-hopping of associates in pursuit of a bigger paycheck and also the shift in people wanting to find more work-life balance. But Paul points out that being a trial attorney requires a different schedule and a different mentality. So what can trial attorneys do t...
Aug 22, 2022•37 min•Ep. 132
In the second of a multi-part topic, Dr. Steve Wood and Dr. Bill Kanasky, Jr. discuss irrational thinking patterns. Steve and Bill describe how the brain makes connections that may or may not be connected in reality and how that type of irrational thinking can impact witness performance, requiring cognitive reframing to correct these irrational thinking patterns. Bill and Steve have identified 13 cognitive distortions that are crippling your witnesses and cover five additional distortions in thi...
Aug 15, 2022•34 min•Ep. 131
Kevin Quinley, President of Quinley Risk Associates, talks about his extensive experience in the insurance industry and particularly as an expert witness. Bill and Kevin discuss several tips for attorneys on issues that arise when Kevin is requested to serve as an expert witness, including: last minute scheduling; failing to succinctly frame key issues and not being specific about what's needed from the expert witness; expectations of an immediate opinion from the expert witness after sharing on...
Aug 08, 2022•47 min•Ep. 130
Joe Longfellow, Partner & Trial Attorney with Andrew, Crabtree, Knox & Longfellow, joins the podcast to talk about his work on civil rights defense cases primarily defending law enforcement officers, and also working with healthcare witnesses in med mal cases. Joe describes the challenges of witness prep of law enforcement and how he works with these often difficult witnesses. He also shares his approach to helping jurors understand the difference between negligence and deliberate indiff...
Aug 01, 2022•41 min•Ep. 129
Baxter Drennon, Partner with Hall Booth Smith, joins the podcast to talk about responses to Reptile Theory questions, in particular the answer of "It depends." This response can make some defense attorneys uncomfortable. Steve, Bill, and Baxter discuss the circumstances in which "It depends" is the truthful and most accurate response. They talk about the validity and comfort of a witness varying their responses and what cognitive factors are involved in the way a question is responded to. Baxter...
Jul 25, 2022•40 min•Ep. 128
In the first of a multi-part topic, Dr. Steve Wood and Dr. Bill Kanasky, Jr. discuss irrational thinking patterns. Steve and Bill describe how the brain makes connections that may or may not be connected in reality and how that type of irrational thinking can impact witness performance, requiring cognitive reframing to correct these irrational thinking patterns. Bill and Steve have identified 13 cognitive distortions that are crippling your witnesses and cover four of these distortions in this e...
Jul 18, 2022•31 min•Ep. 127
Nick Rauch, Attorney with Larson King in Minnesota, joins the podcast to talk about defending against the plaintiff Reptile Theory, particularly by starting defense preparation very early in the case. Nick and Bill discuss where and how early they are seeing Reptile in the litigation process, plus the importance and implications of a corporate representative's deposition testimony and having them prepared for potential Reptile attacks and traps. Nick also shares his perspectives on anchoring and...
Jul 11, 2022•35 min•Ep. 126
Dr. Steve Wood is joined by CSI Crisis Communications Practice Leader Sean Murphy to discuss the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard trial. Sean describes how public opinion was being influenced daily during the trial and the narrative that was being communicated in the court of public opinion. Sean shares the approach that should be taken in litigation communications and what seemed to work for Johnny Depp's side and worked against Amber Heard's side during this trial. Steve talks about some elements of...
Jun 20, 2022•41 min•Ep. 125
Dr. Steve Wood gives an update on The Litigation Psychology Podcast schedule for the summer and a preview of some of the topics that will be featured in new episodes when the podcast returns from a short summer break. Those topics include the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial, preparing a former employee for deposition, the fallacy of the reptile brain, social influence in the courtroom, top excuses we hear for not conducting jury research, how to prepare emotional witnesses for testimony, plus ...
May 30, 2022•4 min•Ep. 124
Doug Marcello, Chief Legal Officer with Bluewire, joins the podcast to talk about the genesis of Bluewire and the benefits for trucking and transportation companies. Bluewire software analyzes vulnerabilities for motor carriers and provides recommendations to reduce or eliminate those vulnerabilities. It allows for a strategic, proactive response to help trucking companies avoid nuclear verdicts. Doug also talks about Bluewire Connect which is an online community limited to trucking industry ind...
May 23, 2022•23 min•Ep. 123
Dr. Bill Kanasky, Jr. revisits the very first paper he wrote titled: "Four Lethal but Preventable Mistakes in Civil Litigation". Bill discusses these four mistakes in detail including: #1 making witness prep the last priority; #2 a weak visual presentation; #3 overreliance on expert witnesses; and #4 going on the defensive early. Watch the video of this episode: https://www.courtroomsciences.com/r/o4p
May 16, 2022•23 min•Ep. 122
