Discussing the concept of nuclear verdicts with an audience of lawyers can be challenging enough. Imagine having to broach the idea of 10-digit damages awards with corporate board members—folks who are likely to be more interested in revenue streams, transactions, and the ins-and-outs of actually keeping a company running than the reputational and economic harm that comes with being on the wrong side of a big verdict. 

That unenviable task often falls to general counsels. And yesterday a panel discussion involving general counsel from two public companies—Michael Ullmann, the outgoing GC of Johnson & Johnson, and David Battisti, the GC of Penske Transportation Solutions—gave a rare window into those difficult discussions. The pair were speaking in a panel moderated by Brackett Denniston, senior counsel at Goodwin Procter, who himself is the former GC of General Electric Co., as part of a summit on law, policy and politics sponsored by the Institute for Legal Reform at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. that was streamed live on the internet Wednesday.