nuclear verdict Archives

AI tools may be the cause of the explosion in nuclear verdicts — and also the solution

April 6th, 2025|Categories: Emerging Litigation & Risk, HB Emerging Law Notes, HB Tort Notes, Journal on Emerging Issues in Litigation, New Featured Post for Home Page|Tags: Artificial Intelligence (AI), hb litigation, journal on emerging issues in litigation, legal innovation, litigation articles, litigation strategy, nuclear verdict, risk mitigation|

Guest contributor Justin Ward discusses how artificial intelligence is both fueling and fighting the rise of “nuclear verdicts.” Plaintiff attorneys are using AI to identify high-damages cases, favorable jurisdictions, and winning arguments—driving a spike in verdicts over $10 million. At the same time, defense lawyers and insurers are adopting tools like NaVeL to spot high-risk cases early and craft smarter strategies. As AI reshapes legal practice, the very technology accelerating massive awards may also be the best hope for containing them.

Avoiding the Nuclear Verdict or the Defense Verdict

According to professionals in the insurance industry and the defense bar, the number of nuclear verdicts, or verdicts that exceed $10M, is on the rise. Although the defense may prevail over plaintiffs more often at trial, when the defense loses, they lose big. And plaintiffs who could have obtained needed resources in settlement, sometimes "roll the dice" at trial and get less, or nothing at all. Do clients really want to engage in such high stakes showdowns? Is there a better way to administer "justice?" In this CLE webinar, Mediator Arbitrator Jeff Trueman and Negotiation Educator and Author, John Lowry discuss these very questions. Register for the on-demand webinar today!