Anchoring

Prohibiting plaintiffs and their attorneys from suggesting arbitrary and specific damage amounts will help prevent excessive jury awards influenced by inflated requests.

The Problem

Plaintiffs’ attorneys often use “anchoring” tactics by suggesting exorbitant damage amounts during trials, leading juries to award disproportionately high verdicts, sometimes referred to as “nuclear verdicts®,” disconnected from actual harm suffered.

ATRA’s Position

Implement rules prohibiting plaintiffs from suggesting specific damage amounts during trials to ensure fairer outcomes.

Search Through ATRA Reforms

Search through all of ATRA's reforms around Anchoring

No related legislation or reform items found for this issue.



Anchoring News and Press

Explore ATRA's most recent press releases and blogs around Anchoring

Gov. Kemp Signs Major Tort Reform Bills in ‘Judicial Hellhole’ Georgia

Today, the American Tort Reform Association celebrates Gov. Brian Kemp sig...

Georgia Senate Acts to Restore Fairness in Civil Justice System

Last week, the Georgia Senate passed critical tort reform legislation on a...

Search Resources

Search through all of ATRA's Amicus Briefs, Reports, and Other Resources around Anchoring
Search All
States
Status
Post Types
Date
Blade v. Sig Saurer
(E.D. Pa., filed April 6, 2026): Arguing that the court should grant Sig Saurer’s motion for reconsideration because Mallory upends the jurisdictiona...
Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • Case Not Yet Decided iconCase Not Yet Decided
Suquilanda v. Skyway Roofing, Inc.
(Ma., filed March 18, 2026): Urging the court to decline to recognize a new cause of action permitting employees of a subcontractor to sue a contract...
Massachusetts
  • Case Not Yet Decided iconCase Not Yet Decided
Letter Urging Veto or Amendments to House Bill 449 / Senate Bill 229 in Virginia
...
Corporate Flight from Delaware: The Impact of Escalating Shareholder Litigation and Legal Uncertainty
Unpredictable court rulings and a wave of lawyer-driven, profit-seeking litigation are destabilizing Delaware’s historic dominance for corporat...
Delaware
New York Local Legal Services Advertising 2024-2025
Trial lawyers and aggregators increasingly spend large sums of money on television, digital, and print advertising to recruit new clients. In 2025, i...
New York
Murphy v. Rio Rancho Center
(New Mex. Ct. App., filed March 5, 2026): Arguing that the double-digit punitive multipliers likely violate due process. The U.S. Supreme Court has s...
New Mexico
  • Case Not Yet Decided iconCase Not Yet Decided
Monsanto v. Durnell
(U.S., filed March 2, 2026): Arguing that requirements for herbicide labeling should not be made case-by-case in litigation sparked by a flawed IARC ...
SCOTUS
  • Case Not Yet Decided iconCase Not Yet Decided
Cowan v. Dr. Slann et.al.
(N.D., filed February 23, 2026): Arguing that reasonable limits on medical liability improve the health care system for doctors and patients and Nort...
North Dakota
  • Case Not Yet Decided iconCase Not Yet Decided
Oregon Local Legal Services Advertising 2021-2025
Trial lawyers and aggregators increasingly spend large sums of money on television, digital,and print advertising to recruit new clients. In 2025, it...
Oregon
The Junk Science Playbook
The Machine That Sparks and Supports Mass Tort Litigation Introduction and Executive Summary Mass tort litigation is a sprawling, profit-driven...



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