Keeping verdicts from running away: Attorney Bob Tyson addresses nuclear verdicts

Bob Tyson is the strategic managing partner for California-based Tyson & Mendes. He has authored a book entitled: Nuclear Verdicts: Defending Justice for All, and over his 30-year career, he has successfully resolved a variety of cases including complex products liability, commercial and general civil litigation, professional malpractice, environmental and employment law. Tyson delivered the Day 2 closing keynote at the ALM Complex Claims and Litigation Forum and shared some of the issues surrounding nuclear verdicts.

He identified several types of cases that have the most likely to result in nuclear verdicts: student-involved shootings with multiple victims, medical malpractice claims, incidents involving commercial trucking companies and employment disputes.

As Tyson explained, “The same old same old doesn’t work in these cases.” Plaintiff attorneys have changed their strategies and how they try these cases, and defense attorneys must rethink their approach in the courtroom as well.

“There is a pattern,” he said. “They want to get the jury angry and we need to deal with that.” Frequently, the defense fails to defuse the jury’s anger and that results in nuclear verdicts.

Tyson also highlighted some of the biggest mistakes insurers make when a claim goes to litigation that can lead to nuclear verdicts. To learn how to change the trajectory of these verdicts and what legal counsel should focus on when faced with the possibility of a nuclear verdict, listen to the podcast above or subscribe to Insurance Speak on Spotify, Apple Music or Libsyn.

Related:

Notes from ALM’s Complex Claims & Litigation Forum 2023

The problem with third-party litigation financing

Pain and suffering: 10 of the toughest verdicts to hit the insurance industry

Runaway verdicts: Reversing the trend