The recent uptick in “nuclear verdicts” or “runaway verdicts” reflects the growing power of the plaintiff’s bar to influence juries and secure record-setting wins – a phenomenon due in part to social inflation, or the stereotype that large corporations are bad actors with deep pockets. The trend has far-reaching implications for the insurance industry, which often must shoulder the cost of such lawsuits along with the verdicts and settlements they produce, as well as the average consumer, who can count mounting lawsuit expenses as one of the reasons that insurance rates are inching ever higher. And of course, insurance carriers must defend against their fair share of lawsuits. In this episode of "Insurance Speak," James Whittle with the American Property Casualty Insurance Association dives into the impact of what the organization has dubbed "legal system abuse."
