In nearly a half-century as a Georgia lawyer, starting when we had spittoons in jury boxes, bailiffs called greenhorn lawyers “Colonel,” and computers were just huge mainframes in large institutions, I have seen a lot of change.
I have tried serious injury cases for over forty years. Years ago, I saw terribly low verdicts for catastrophic harm. More recently, we have seen eight-figure verdicts that would have shocked judges when I was a puppy lawyer. What changed?
Insurance defense folks in their seminars have used phrases like “nuclear verdicts.” That makes it sound reckless or irrational. But in my experience





