Are there strong negative attitudes against the defendant?
Some companies and industries (e.g., insurance companies, “for-profit” health care, tobacco companies) have very negative images with the public, and there is virtually no resistance to awarding large sums against them. If your local intelligence confirms these attitudes, reducing the risk of the large verdict makes sense. • Will the client support efforts to pre-test this case? If the client cannot or will not spend the money to engage in this type of research, they are not the type of client who will adapt well to the realities of an adverse verdict. Protecting them against a runaway verdict is the best that can be done. When Do Jurors Decide the Defendant Has Crossed the Line? The question often arises regarding how far the defense can go in attacking the plaintiff’s numbers before jurors will perceive the defense as having offered an alternative number. Fortunately, the line is brighter than one might think. Jurors tend not to see a strong cross-examination of the plaintiff’s damag
