Tyson & Mendes name partner Bob Tyson says that defense lawyers need to “embrace the awkward” to fight back against the growing number of nuclear verdicts.

Take responsibility. Say you’re sorry and mean it. Calculate reasonable damages and get them before the jury early and often. These are just a few of the techniques Tyson embraces in his book on nuclear verdicts aimed at a defense-side audience. These were also topics up for discussion during the inaugural Nuclear Verdicts Defense Institute last month, where 18 defense-side trial lawyers, including four who practice in-house at insurance companies, came together in San Diego to learn the techniques  discussed in Tyson’s book for avoiding eight-digit verdicts. “There were no clients, and there were no sponsors,” said Tyson when we caught up with him earlier this week to discuss the workshop and his book. “We want it to be this safe space where defense lawyers can just come and learn and ask questions and not have to worry about whether they seem super smart.”