It is rare for me to read an article in the Daily Report that I disagree with to the extent that I feel compelled to actually send in a response to set the record straight. But the recent story entitled “Reptile Co-Author Don Keenan Says Big Verdicts Reflect Justice” is such an article. In the article, Mr. Keenan claims that the recent “nuclear verdicts,” a term adopted by the insurance industry for verdicts that significantly exceed their evaluations of a case, are the result of techniques that he has taught to lawyers as part of his Reptile theory that “persuade” jurors into thinking that the case is about something more than the client’s injuries. I have never read Reptile. Neither has Pete Law or Jeff Shiver or other Georgia lawyers who have been counsel in these multimillion-dollar verdicts. I do not believe that “nuclear verdicts” exist. I am even more confident that any large verdict is not primarily attributable to the techniques used by the plaintiff’s lawyer as much as the foreseeable result of the insurance industry placing the defense lawyer in an unwinnable position.

A “nuclear verdict” happens when an insurance company takes an unreasonable position in hopes of saving money on a serious injury or death case. The insurance company rejects a reasonable settlement demand from the victim because the amount sought is higher than what the insurance company wants to pay. The demand is in the range of a reasonable settlement for the injury or death, but the insurance company offers less in hopes that the victim will give up and take the money. This decision will ultimately be what leads to the “nuclear verdict.” When the insurance company rejects a reasonable settlement demand and forces the case to trial, it places the defense lawyer in an unwinnable situation. The defense lawyer must find a way to hold the verdict below a reasonable settlement value in order to appease the insurance company. The defendant business owner sits through the trial recognizing that the insurance policy is inadequate to cover the damages and hopes the defense lawyer can work some magic. How can the defense lawyer keep a jury from awarding a reasonable amount?  It is simply not possible. Georgia juries are too smart for that.