How to Understand and Combat Safetyism

Safety is good. Safetyism is extreme.

As societal expectations for absolute safety reach new highs, jurors are bringing "safetyist" beliefs into the courtroom. Learn to spot the warning signs of safetyism before it leads to a nuclear verdict.

The Strange New Litigation World of Safetyism

What Is Safetyism?

Safetyism is a cultural trend where society expects absolute freedom from risk, harm, or discomfort. Safetyists demand 100% safety, 100% of the time—especially from corporations.

How Safetyism Influences Verdicts

Jurors are increasingly adopting a safetyist mindset:

• 92% believe companies should take EVERY possible measure to ensure products are 100% safe.

• 83% agree products should warn about EVERY possible risk, no matter how small.

• 69% would stop using a product if they read it MIGHT cause cancer.

Why Now?

Safetyism has been building for decades:

• In 1979, the seeds of the 24/7 news cycle were planted with uninterrupted Three Mile Island coverage. (Source: The Rise of Safetyism Is Influencing Verdicts)

• Parenting styles evolved from the “latchkey kids” of the ‘80s as more concerned parents raised younger generations with extra protections and warnings about the world’s dangers. (Source: A Strange New Litigation World…)

• The internet and social media amplified safety concerns, giving users the means to minimize exposure to emotional distress by curating their personal media environment. (Source: The Rise of Safetyism Is Influencing Verdicts)

• Today, people’s tolerance for risk has reached new lows and demands for safety have reached new highs. (Source: A Strange New Litigation World…)

The Nuclear Effect

The rise of safetyism has resulted in an explosion of nuclear verdicts:

• 16% of nuclear verdicts between 2010–2019 exceeded $50 million.

  • 101 of those awards topped $100 million.

Characteristics of a Safetyist

3 Fallacies of Safetyist Thinking

1. Total Risk Avoidance: “What doesn’t kill you makes you weaker.”

2. Feelings Over Facts: “Emotions are always right.”

3. Tribalism: “Life is a battle between good and evil people.”

The Safetyist Juror Profile

• Demographics: Higher education, urban residences, liberal political leanings, younger ages (especially Gen Z)

• Information sources: Social media, podcasts, the internet, non-corporate sources (rather than TV, radio, or corporate-funded studies)

• Predictors of pro-plaintiff verdicts: High safetyism, younger age, emphasis on intuition, anger toward defendant

How to Combat Safetyism

Short-Term Strategies

Maximize Voir Dire

Identify and strike high-risk safetyists by:

• Requesting additional time

• Asking targeted questions

• Practicing with mock jurors

• Going the extra mile for cause challenges

Use Powerful Themes

Repeat themes throughout trial, such as:

• “Facts, not feelings”

• “Follow the science”

• “Correlation is not causation”

• “Probabilities, not possibilities”

• “The defendant is here for justice, too”

Create Jury Accountability

Explain the “tier of accountability”:

• The judge is held accountable by an appeals court

• The jury is held accountable by the court and judge

• Decisions must be grounded in law, not emotion

Mid-Range Strategies

• Create preparation “schools” for corporate experts and witnesses

• File motions for individual voir dire

• File motions for single-plaintiff cases

Long-Term Strategies

• Identify key witnesses early

• Prepare the “good company” story

• Build collaboration among defense firms

Safetyism Is Here to Stay

The sooner your defense team adopts effective strategies, the better you can combat the safetyism trend.

Don’t let safetyism derail your defense.

Partner with IMS Legal Strategies to develop a comprehensive defense strategy today.

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