Four Lethal and Preventable Mistakes in Civil Litigation

An increasing number of cases are now being resolved based upon their perceptual value at the jury level, rather than their realistic economic worth. Plaintiff attorneys have become experts at taking small, relatively benign cases and turning them into expensive “nuclear verdicts.” This often results in a defendant corporation having to pay significantly higher settlement figures and damage awards, as they are hamstrung by poor depositions, bad documents, and a sympathetic plaintiff. Fortunately, attorneys can utilize many techniques to identify each case’s unique perceptual challenges and increase the odds of an optimal settlement or trial outcome. Savvy litigators know that early and accurate evaluations of jury-level perceptions play a key role when opportunities to “out-trade” the other side arise.