In this episode, Dr. Pensa discusses 'strategic communication' in litigation with expert Matt Abrahams.

Matt teaches strategic communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business and hosts the podcast, "Think Fast, Talk Smart." He's also the author of the books "Think Faster, Talk Smarter" and "Speaking Out Without Freaking Out: 50 Techniques for Confident, Calm and Competent Presenting."

We talk about the importance of communicating strategically in any setting, including the artificial settings of deposition and trial. We discuss, among other things, anxiety management, the importance of preparation and structure, and communicating with empathy, clarity, and brevity.

More about Dr. Pensa and how to contact her: https://doctorsandlitigation.com/

"A World of Hurt: How Medical Malpractice Fails Everyone" is a new documentary produced by Emmy-nominated physician-filmmaker Dr. Mark Brady and two medical students, Alex Homer and Viknesh Kasthuri. After a year of private screenings and film festivals, this powerful piece was recently picked up by PBS after winning multiple awards. It is now free to watch online (links below).

In under 27 minutes, this short documentary tells three stories: a plaintiff whose sister dies after a medical error; a physician whose life is decimated by a malpractice allegation; and a couple whose baby dies in the hospital, but seeks a non-traditional route for closure.

Dr. Pensa, who appears in the film, turns the tables and interviews the filmmakers in today's podcast. They discuss what it was like making the film during COVID, the difficulty of getting subjects to agree to filming, and how they hope this piece can be an agent for conversation and change.

Please watch the film and share widely. It is short, but powerful.

Watch now:

PBS: https://watch.ripbs.org/video/a-world-of-hurt-how-medical-malpractice-fails-everyone-uklpuo/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09IVcL6pACU

You can find Dr. Pensa at doctorsandlitigation.com

The phrase "nuclear verdict" strikes fear into the heart of any defendant - and today we're going to tackle it head on.

We welcome Dusty Otwell, JD, medical malpractice defense attorney and Chief Risk Officer of UCACS, to the podcast to discuss “nuclear," "runaway jury," or aberration verdicts. These are jury awards to the plaintiff, given at trial, that well exceed predictions. They tend to make headlines, create fear among doctors and other providers, and lead other parties to dream of giant jackpots.

In this episode we discuss:

• Societal trends that may be fostering the increase in aberration verdicts
• How we can mitigate our fear around the possibility of an aberration verdict
• What happens after an aberration verdict: post-trial negotiations, and real-sizing the risk to your personal assets
• Why defendants should feel empowered to speak up, request preparation, and ask for 'financial risk estimates'
• The ‘reptile theory’ deployed at trial by plaintiff’s attorneys, and how tapping into the general anger in society fuels their persuasion
• Why and how defense teams need to evolve to combat these tactics
• Now, more than ever, preparation of the defendant should be paramount and start EARLY in the case.

More about host Gita Pensa, MD, can be found at https://doctorsandlitigation.com/

Dusty Otwell is vice president for claims and risk management at US Acute Care Solutions. He also serves as Chief Operating Officer and Corporate Secretary for Clinician Assurance Risk Retention Group, the self-insurance carrier for USACS. Previously, he was associate general counsel and director of risk management for Emergency Service Partners, a founding partner of USACS; a senior risk management consultant for ProAssurance Corporation, staff attorney for Maynard, Cooper & Gale, P.C., and staff counsel for Medical Reimbursements of America, LLC.