Defense Strategies for Preventing Massive Verdicts: Countering Reptile Theory, Anchoring, Large Number Bias
Recording of a 90-minute CLE video webinar with Q&A
The CLE webinar will provide practical techniques for overcoming the factors driving outsized and disproportionate verdicts in personal injury cases. The program will discuss how to address jury desensitization regarding inflated numbers and value, overcoming the jury's desire to punish, ways to countervail jury outrage, and how to persuade plaintiffs to recognize risk.
Outline
- Reptile theory
- Anchoring and adjustment
- Large number bias
- Availability heuristic
Benefits
The panel will discuss these and other critical issues:
- How can counsel teach deponents to avoid answering reptile questions in absolute terms?
- How can counsel identify those jurors most susceptible to reptile logic and bias?
- How can defense counsel remove the plaintiff's anchor?
- How can counsel keep jurors from focusing on high number verdicts they hear in the news?
Faculty
Matthew D. Gurbach
Partner
Bricker Graydon
Mr. Gurbach is a diversified trial attorney that represents individuals and corporations in complex business litigation... | Read More
Mr. Gurbach is a diversified trial attorney that represents individuals and corporations in complex business litigation and product liability disputes across a variety of industries. He has extensive experience litigating high-stakes matters for both plaintiffs and defendants involving alleged trade secret misappropriation, intellectual property disputes, business torts, covenants not to compete, as well as claims related to breaches of contract, transportation and logistics, and product liability. Mr. Gurbach's product liability cases have involved a wide variety of products including, industrial machinery, recreational products, consumer products, and toxic torts.
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Christina Marinakis, J.D., Psy.D
Jury Consulting & Strategy Advisor
IMS Consulting & Expert Services
Dr. Marinakis has 19 years of jury research, study, and applied practice in law and psychology. With homes in Los... | Read More
Dr. Marinakis has 19 years of jury research, study, and applied practice in law and psychology. With homes in Los Angeles and Baltimore, she has assisted trial counsel during jury selection and with daily trial monitoring in venues across the country, helping clients obtain defense verdicts in notoriously difficult jurisdictions including New York, Baltimore, Miami, St. Louis, Oakland, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.
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