Avoiding Nuclear Verdicts: Strategies to Minimize Your Exposure to Devastating Lawsuits

Avoiding
Nuclear Verdicts
Strategies to Minimize Your
Exposure to Devastating Lawsuits
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What are Nuclear Verdicts?
Nuclear verdicts are a jury award in which
the penalty exceeds $10 million. 1
In recent years, the average verdict
amount in the trucking industry
increases 52% annually. The continual
upward trend predicts this will be an
ongoing challenge.
In 2020, the largest nuclear verdict judgment
to date was handed down for an accident that
occurred in 2018:
$411 MILLION

Successful plaintiff
attorneys win by
CASTING
DOUBT
in the mind
of the jury.
To do so, attorneys
obtain considerable
amounts of data
during discovery.
They use this
information to
decide whether to:
go to trial
settle out of court
drop case altogether

Not settling? If a plaintiff attorney decides to try your
case, they have enough information for an attack.
Infinit-I presents:
Attorney tactics you
should know. Use this
guide to formulate
your courtroom
response strategy.

JURY PERSUASION
TACTICS
Nuclear verdicts are awarded by the jury. Creating a
mob mentality within the jury will turn them against
your company.
Your future will be determined by the ability of the
plaintiff attorney to appeal to the jurors’ emotions.

Tactic #1
CORPORATE GREED
This tactic is used to portray your company as an evil
corporation who values profit over safety.
123 Trucking pushed this
driver to the limit, ignoring
risk factors, to gain a few
extra miles!

Tactic #2
EXPOSING COMPANY
PROCESS FLAWS
Before the trial, the attorney will scour your hiring
requirements and termination policies for any
opportunity to portray your company as negligent.
This driver was in an
accident 6 months ago.
According to 123 Trucking’s
termination policy, he
should have been fired.
If 123 Trucking followed
their own policies, this
accident never would
have occurred!

Tactic #3
REPTILE THEORY
Exploit the jury’s anger by appealing to their primal instincts
or “reptile brain.” People tend to make irrational
or illogical decisions when based on emotions (such as
anger or fear). 2
If you don’t punish
123 Trucking, the next
accident, injury, or even
fatality will be your fault!
Attorneys will
subtly urge jurors to
imagine themselves as
the one who can teach
123 Trucking a lesson
and save lives.

Tactic #4
PLACING
BLAME
This is an easy tactic for attorneys, especially if the
driver was operating under the influence, while fatigued,
or distracted. Clearly the driver is responsible, but smart
attorneys go after the company.
Company policy states that
drivers will be terminated if
caught with a mobile device
in their hand while driving.
But this driver was watching
viral videos on a phone
mounted to the dash!
123 Trucking is to blame for
allowing these behaviors!

Tactic #5
COMPANY COMPLACENCY -
ATTACKING DRIVER TRAINING
Attorneys will attempt to prove there is more you could
have done to prevent the accident, especially if you have
under- or un-utilized tools at your disposal.
123 Trucking failed to provide proper
training to the driver.
Their records indicate the driver
hasn’t received any safety training in
SIX MONTHS!

Strategic Response Plan
MANAGE THE
OPINION OF THE JURY
You can manage the jury’s opinion of your
company as long as you can prove that you
have invested in your safety culture.

Strategic Response Plan
ONGOING
SAFETY
TRAINING
There is no current industry
standard on training frequency.
However, it is proven that
ongoing safety refresher courses
keep safe driving techniques
top-of-mind.
BASICs
Over time, frequent training
positively changes behaviors
and significantly reduces
accidents and incidents.
Recurring safety training proves
your company’s foresight and
accident prevention efforts.

Strategic Response Plan
DUE DILIGENCE
Take reasonable steps to ensure
compliance and satisfy legal responsibility.
Frequent Drug & Alcohol Testing
Provide In-Cab Cameras
Corrective Action and Coaching
Ongoing Training and Refreshers

PROVE YOUR DUE DILIGENCE
During discovery, prove your due diligence by providing:
• Company Policies and Procedures
• Medical and Licensing Records
• Orientation Completion
• Ongoing Training and Test Scores
• Documented Proof of Comprehension
Each of these should be immediately accessible as a
digital component of your driver files.
If you can’t provide these within hours of request, you
are already behind.
If it takes you days or
weeks to pull together
a file, you can bet the
attorney will use that to
diminish your credibility
in front of a jury.

DEFENSE ADVOCATE
Infinit-I is the most preferred tool in the trucking industry
to protect your company, drivers, and your future.
Our ongoing safety training prevents accidents and violations
from happening.
And the documentation we provide has
protected numerous clients from their
own nuclear verdicts.

Vehicle Maintenance
Infinit-I offers over 1,000 safety training courses, including:
• Distracted driving
• Hours of service
• Driving under the influence
• Fatigued driving
• Proper inspections
• Adverse weather conditions
• Tailgating
• Speeding
• Traffic
• Animal avoidance
• CSA BASICs
• And many more!
GENERAL SAFETY
VIDEO
VIDEO
Distracted Driving
DRIVER SKILLS
VIDEO
Animal Avoidance
DRIVER SKILLS
VIDEO
COVID-19
CORONAVIRUS
VIDEO
VIDEO
Hours of Service
CSA
VIDEO
VIDEO

1. www.pooleshaffery.com.
2. Lexis Nexis.
SOURCES
SAFETY TRAINING.
ANYTIME. ANYWHERE.
Having the right tools for the
job makes all the difference
At Infinit-I Workforce Solutions, we get
drivers home safely. We provide your team
easy to digest, anytime, anywhere training to
enhance your company’s safety culture. Over
1,300 companies trust Infinit-I.
For information about a 30-day, full access
trial of Infinit-I, please visit:
www.infinitiworkforce.com/complimentary-trial/
BENEFITS
3 Reduce Accidents by 20%
3 Reduce Violations by 50%
3 Reduce Training Costs
by 80%
3 Improved Litigation Support
3 Thousands of Lives Saved