How Defense Counsel Can Avoid “Nuclear Verdict Nightmares”

Nuclear verdicts continue to be a significant concern for defense counsel, particularly in cases involving catastrophic injuries. While the financial consequences can be substantial, the impact often extends beyond damages awards. High-profile verdicts can affect a company’s reputation, public perception, and long-term business interests.

Understand the Challenge

A nuclear verdict has been defined as an exceptionally high jury award that exceeds what would typically be considered reasonable or rational. According to Robert Tyson’s Nuclear Verdicts: Defending Justice For All, defense counsel who fail to address key trial fundamentals frequently increase the risk of an adverse outcome.

Tyson argues that many large verdicts can be traced to avoidable strategic mistakes: “If you research large jury verdicts, you will find defense counsel almost always failed to do at least one, if not all, of these ten things.”¹ Though many of Tyson’s suggestions are “not intuitive or comfortable,”²