Less is More
Friday, August 18th, 2023 LitigationWhen it comes to civil litigation, there is far more attention on nuclear verdicts compared to nuclear settlements. However, with only approximately 5% of civil cases going to trial, nuclear settlements are considerably more frequent. How witnesses perform during deposition can greatly influence whether a nuclear settlement is triggered or avoided.
In our previous article on this topic, ‘Preventing Nuclear Settlements at Deposition,’ which ran in the May 2023 edition of CLM Magazine, we discussed the two conflicting approaches to witness testimony in depositions -- pivoting and embrace/reject -- and how poor deposition performance can impact verdicts and increase settlement value.
While there are proponents of both approaches, we believe the embrace/reject approach lessens the likelihood that a witness’ deposition testimony will lead to a nuclear settlement.
