Litigation Strategies for Neutralizing Anger in Settlement Negotiations and Jury Trials: Preserving Defenses
Taking Aim at Reptile Tactics, Humanizing the Entity, Countering Irrational Emotion Without Admitting Liability
Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
- work Practice Area
Personal Injury and Med Mal
- event Date
Wednesday, March 9, 2022
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
90 minutes
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
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This CLE course will discuss the ways defendants can vigorously defend against liability, head off nuclear verdicts, and reach better settlements by doing more than just denying fault or poking holes in the plaintiff's case. While the panel will address how counsel in jury trials can interrupt and effectively counter the narrative that their client is inherently blameworthy and in need of punishment. It will also hear from plaintiffs’ counsel how to enlist the jury in awarding higher damages by educating them how these kinds of injuries could happen to them.
Ms. Bernabei has been litigating employment discrimination, civil rights, and whistleblower cases for over thirty years. She is a founding partner of Bernabei & Kabat, PLLC, where she handles claims of civil rights violations, and discrimination cases across the country. Although the practice focuses on cases in state and federal court in the Mid-Atlantic region, she has also litigated cases in New York, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and Arizona.
Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm has provided research and strategic advice on several hundred cases across the country for the past 21 years, applying a doctorate in communication emphasizing the areas of legal persuasion and rhetoric. As a tenured Associate Professor of Communication Studies, he has taught courses including legal communication, argumentation, persuasion, and research methods. He has trained and consulted in 19 countries around the world and is Past President of the American Society of Trial Consultants.
Mr. Pyers litigates complex commercial, professional liability, tort, and class action matters. He represents clients in commercial disputes, including: breach of contract claims; anti-trust actions; covenants not to compete; and, business torts. In his professional liability practice, Mr. Pyers represents: attorneys; accountants; architects; engineers; surveyors; builders; real estate agents, insurance agents; directors and officers; and, investment advisors in litigation and licensure proceedings. He also counsels several corporate clients on transactional matters.
Ms. Wallace has handled cases in a wide variety of fields, including personal injury, product liability, qui tam whistleblower (False Claims Act), medical malpractice, premises liability, copyright, mass tort, class action, contracts, professional liability and auto and tractor-trailer wreck cases. Over her more than 30 years of practicing law, she has handled legal matters in 20 states.
More frequent verdicts with an extraordinarily high non-economic-to-economic damages ratio suggests that juries are awarding damages based on anger at the defendant.
Plaintiff’s counsel want to have strategies to encourage jurors to be angry about injuries to their clients. Defense counsel want to have strategies for neutralizing juror anger at their clients. Counsel must be able to put themselves in the factfinders’ position and anticipate their reactions and emotions.
Anger is not just a problem for plaintiffs’ and defense counsel in jury trials. Anger and other emotions can sabotage a productive dispute resolution process, and make it impossible to reach a mutually agreeable resolution. Both sides usually have an interest in reducing the temperature in a mediation to permit their clients to explore whether middle ground can be reached.
Listen as this experienced panel of litigators and mediators discusses best strategies and techniques for diffusing anger and other related emotions in the courtroom, in mediation, and other settlement contexts.
- The problem of disproportionate verdicts
- Plaintiff’s view on of anger in resolving disputes
- Countering anger and rage at a corporate defendant
- Humanizing the entity
- Apologizing or taking responsibility
- Dealing with the sympathetic but culpable party
- Countering irrational emotion during settlement negotiations and mediation
The panel will review these and other critical issues:
- How can counsel counter the "greed" or "dollars over people" messages?
- How can a party take responsibility for something without admitting liability?
- How can defense counsel prepare themselves and their clients for triggers during settlement talks?
- When is it appropriate to bring in third parties?
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