The Swiss Re insurance company has released the results of its 2025 behavioral social inflation study. The behavioral science study disdains finger-pointing and war stories. It concludes that juror sentiment "has shifted decisively toward plaintiffs, and this shift is influencing verdicts in measurable ways.”

Teddy Snyder

What your jury pool thinks

Seventy-six percent of a representative group of respondents said damages awards are either too low or just right. Only 58% thought so in 2016.

Eighty-five percent think large corporations are putting profit over safety. While there is less animosity toward small and medium-sized companies, 67% support punitive damages against the smaller companies as a way to deter misconduct; 79% feel that way about large enterprises.
 
The study looked at three types of scenarios: vehicle, slip and fall, and product liability. Results showed a clear pattern: Injury severity, not company size, is the strongest driver of verdict behavior.

Defining your ballpark helps

“Anchoring” refers to the psychological effect that a first offer or demand has on subsequent negotiation. Unsurprisingly, the study found that a high-dollar initial demand produced higher dollar results. Defendants who anchored with an early offer didn’t necessarily avoid the so-called nuclear verdict, but the defense anchor did lower expectations and scaled down the range of outcomes.

Other determiners: income, age and politics

Respondents earning more $100,000 were less likely to think the number of lawsuits was too low or just right than those who earned less than $50,000. The higher earners were similarly unlikely to believe that damage awards were too low or just right compared to lower earners.

People younger than 40 awarded higher amounts than older survey respondents.

Democrats tended to be more generous than Republicans.

Negotiation lessons

The Swiss Re study reinforces the need to evaluate early and often. Early offers define your ballpark. Seasoned professionals who objectively review the law and facts should be able to drop an early anchor.

Though the result of a negotiation is not completely under your control, your preparation is. When you have information that, in your view, favorably affects case value, share it early in the claim resolution process. Don’t sit on that information. You don’t have to wait for a discovery request or mediation.

Being proactive takes courage. It’s easy to simply react (or not) to your opponent’s actions or lethargy. Those are the cases that drag on for years and use up time, money and stress.

There is no bad time to make an offer.

Attorney Teddy Snyder mediates workers' compensation cases throughout California. She can be contacted through snydermediations.com.