Like many defense attorneys across the country, Robert Tyson of Tyson Mendes in San Diego has paid careful attention to the rising tide of so-called "nuclear" verdicts, where juries render awards far beyond what a case would typically be valued at.

When Tyson talks about the outsized awards, and what might be driving them, he sometimes sounds frustrated. That's because he doesn't think the defense bar has been doing enough to counter what many court watchers described as emerging tactics from the plaintiffs bar aimed at getting jurors to "punish" defendants and tether their deliberations on ever higher numbers.

" It's gotten noticeably worse over the past 10 years, but it seems to have picked up pace in the last two," Tyson said. "What has happened is these tactics are now being used by the plaintiffs bar across the country." He added: "The plaintiffs bar is taking the same approach, that the defendants are putting corporate profits over safety. That's their approach and how they're framing the cases. The defense bar's not doing anything differently."