On April 16, Sandy Wunderlich moderated a session of the International Association of Defense Counsel’s (IADC) 2026 Corporate Counsel College. In “Defending With Empathy and Authenticity: Acknowledging Harm Without Conceding Liability,” Sandy and a panel of esteemed trial lawyers and in-house counsel—Gerrod Bede, General Counsel, Red Roof Inn; Heidi K. Hubbard, Williams & Connolly LLP; and Beth Wilkinson, Wilkinson Stekloff—addressed effectively defending clients amid the rise in anti-corporate sentiment among jurors; understanding how jurors process injury, grief, and blame; and tools the trial lawyer can use to diffuse the emotional impact of a sympathetic plaintiff, including cross-examining a sympathetic plaintiff without losing the jury emotionally and reframing the narrative toward fairness to all parties. The speakers also shared real-world examples of their experience in high-stakes litigation to illustrate how empathy and authenticity result in better outcomes.