The Snake Attack Phenomenon: The Courts Must Stop Overlooking and Facilitating the Continued Poisoning of Our Jury System
This boundary-pushing has an erosive and corrosive effect.
March 04, 2022 at 11:00 AM
27 minute read
LitigationOur jury system has been under assault from an ever-growing tidal wave of improper trial tactics that have no place in our court rooms, but have directly triggered the last decade's cascade of nuclear verdicts.[1] These tactics began two decades ago, but mushroomed into prominence in 2009, when, in a remarkably successful marketing scheme in the form of a book, they were re-branded as the "Reptile Theory".[2] While the so called Reptile book (now selling on Amazon in paperback for $1,683.99) is not the only how-to or Bible for these tactics, its vivid imagery stands out in the forefront, making it the byname and catchall for this breed of improper tactics. In keeping with the plaintiff bar's apparent rejection of mammalian trademarks, from this point onward we will refer to the entire swath of these improper tactics as the "Snake Attack Phenomenon" or "Snake Attacks" (except when specifically discussing a reptile-based item). We call it a phenomenon simply because of the remarkable fact that it should never have existed in the first place.
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