Coopers' Code

A weak discovery response can still contain the fact your case needs. Miles Cooper and Corey Jollie explore how form and special interrogatories can uncover useful information, sharpen deposition questions, and help build a case well before trial. They discuss the value of reading the forms closely, investigating business relationships and potential insurance coverage, and asking focused questions...

Your complaint starts telling the story long before a jury hears it. Miles Cooper and Corey Jollie explore how to make that first account clear, persuasive, and useful throughout the case. They discuss what belongs in the pleading, what needs preserving, and when extra detail can give the defense more to work with. From Doe defendants and caption strategy to plain-language storytelling, Corey shar...

Who pays when the other side makes you prove the obvious? Miles Cooper and Corey Jollie explore how requests for admission can lock in crucial facts, expose weak positions, and narrow the issues heading to trial. Corey explains why their value starts with choosing the right facts to target early. They cover California’s 35-request limit, the evidence a denial can reveal through Form Interrogatory...

What happens when clients ask AI to second-guess their lawyers?  Can uploading a confidential email put privilege at risk?  And if AI handles the first draft, who gets the savings and who carries the responsibility? In this episode of Coopers’ Code, Miles Cooper with Shahrad Milanfar and Marshall Cole discuss the latest developments in AI and their legal implications. The conversation moves from A...

Why reject a $750,000 offer and trust a jury with a difficult brain injury case? In the second half of the Hickey v. Harrington conversation, Miles Cooper asks Michael Stephenson, Lucy Allen, and Blake Bostwick of Bay Area Bicycle Law how they chose a jury, handled a sympathetic driver, and tested potential jurors' views of preexisting conditions and large awards.  Missed Part 1 (about the collisi...

How did a cyclist who stayed upright after a low-speed collision end up with a jury verdict exceeding $12 million? In the first of two episodes about Hickey v. Harrington, Miles Cooper speaks with Michael Stephenson, Lucy Allen, and Blake Bostwick of Bay Area Bicycle Law. The collision left no obvious scene of catastrophe, and the client already had significant medical challenges. Michael describe...

Emails, texts, DMs, and social platforms make it possible to reach more people than ever. But what happens when staying responsive consumes the time needed to do meaningful work? Miles Cooper explores Dunbar's number, a theory about the cognitive limit on stable relationships, and uses it to examine modern communication overload. Is responding actually part of your job, or has someone else's to-do...

A damaging internal document reaches the jury during Meta's landmark trial. An expert reportedly uses ChatGPT to generate most of a report defending 3M. A chatbot is accused of steering a user away from medical care, while autonomous models escape a testing sandbox. What do these stories mean for the evidence lawyers should be seeking? When does AI assistance become a discovery issue? Can an e...

Trial confidence cannot be manufactured at counsel table. In this solo episode, Miles Cooper examines what it means to have absolute faith in a case while remaining clear-eyed about every weakness that could lead to defeat. Miles explains how preparation creates genuine conviction, offers three ways to address damaging facts and shows why curiosity about the defense’s strategy can reveal the count...

Every open email, pile of paper, digital file and unfinished closing task creates one more demand on a lawyer's attention. Left alone, those small distractions become what Miles Cooper calls “psychic load” and turn routine cleanup into deferred maintenance. In this episode of Coopers' Code, Miles explains how a recurring “LBJ Day” can help lawyers clear physical and digital buildup before...

In this new episode, Zach Morvant joins Miles Cooper on reviewing lawyers’ most common trial-readiness questions. From expert deposition games and overloaded exhibit lists to motions in limine, video impeachment and courtroom technology, Miles shares practical ways to stay ahead as trial approaches. The conversation also covers jury questionnaires, late-stage focus groups, master-calendar uncertai...

In this episode of Coopers’ Code, Miles Cooper examines one of the central challenges of running a contingent fee law firm: how do you finance cases that may require years of work before producing an uncertain return? Miles explains why the business model can be both financially rewarding and exceptionally difficult to manage. Overhead, payroll, expert fees, and litigation costs continue regardles...

In this episode of Coopers’ Code, Miles Cooper is joined by Marshall Cole and Shahrad Milanfar to examine the new legal problems emerging as artificial intelligence moves deeper into litigation, business, and the courtroom. The conversation opens with an anonymized federal judicial opinion whose identities were reportedly uncovered in minutes using AI. The story raises practical questions about wh...

In this episode of Coopers’ Code, Miles Cooper is joined by his new four-legged companion, Jess, to explore the unexpected connection between filmmaking and contingent fee litigation. Beginning with a Toy Story 5 drone show over the San Francisco waterfront, Miles then traces Pixar’s evolution from an experimental computer hardware business into one of the world’s most successful animation studios...

As we produce newer content for the weeks ahead, we’re taking the opportunity to bring back a sharp and practical conversation from the Coopers’ Code archives. This two-part conversation revisits Miles’s discussion with Marshall Cole on lawsuits, liability, communication, and the legal advice people often wish they had listened to earlier. Stream Part I (and continue with Part II via the links in...

As we produce newer content for the weeks ahead, we’re taking the opportunity to bring back a powerful conversation from the Coopers’ Code archives. This episode revisits Miles’s conversation with Roslyn Whitney, MS, on stress management, wellness, emotional resilience, and the pressures of working in the legal profession. Full episode here: YouTube: https://youtu.be/IRyJkBNZcBA Spotify: https://o...

As we continue our short summer break and new episodes production, we take the opportunity to bring back a great conversation from the Coopers’ Code archives. John Feder is a titan of consumer advocacy with over 40 years of experience fighting for injured people and grieving families. His combination of professional excellence, meticulous preparation, and personal warmth has made him one of the mo...

While our host, Miles Cooper, has been busy preparing for trial and new episodes are in the works, we’re taking the opportunity to bring back a great conversation from the Coopers’ Code archives. Mary Alexander is one of the most accomplished and respected trial lawyers in the country, with a career built around taking on difficult cases, powerful defendants, and harms that demanded meaningful cha...

In this special “producers takeover” episode, Zach Morvant - co-producer of the show, steps into the host chair while Miles Cooper and the Coopers LLP team prepare for trial. Zach interviews Mauro "Kenji" Serra, the producer behind the polish of Coopers' Code, for a behind-the-scenes look at how the show is made, how podcasting has changed, and what it takes to build a modern multime...

In Part 2 of this two-part Coopers’ Code conversation, Miles Cooper continues his discussion with Jessica Samples, a San Francisco-based mindfulness teacher, coach, group facilitator, and founder of CoCreate Calm. If you have not watched Part 1 yet, start there first: - Youtube: https://youtu.be/RWIBvhY7fcs - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-calmness-feels-terrifying-to-hi...

In this two-part Coopers’ Code conversation, Miles Cooper sits down with Jessica Samples, a San Francisco-based mindfulness teacher, coach, group facilitator, and founder of CoCreate Calm. Jessica helps individuals, groups, and teams navigate demanding lives with greater steadiness, self-awareness, and intention. She is a certified mindfulness teacher at the professional level, and her work is gro...

In this episode of Coopers’ Code, Miles Cooper is joined by Marshall Cole and Shahrad Milanfar for a sharp, timely conversation on what happens when technology, legal ethics, and real-world lawyering collide. The discussion opens with a remote deposition sanctions story involving an attorney allegedly texting a witness during testimony, a reminder that new tools can create old ethical problems in...

In this two-part episode, Miles Cooper takes a deeper look at happiness, achievement, and the mindset of people who are wired to strive. If you have not watched Part 1 yet, start there first for the foundation behind this discussion on happiness, achievement, and the striver mindset. Stream it here: - Youtube: https://youtu.be/DSXPp6ORjMg - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why...

In this two-part episode, Miles takes a deeper look at happiness, achievement, and the mindset of people who are wired to strive. Drawing from writers and thinkers including Arthur Brooks, Oliver Burkeman, Cal Newport, Greg McKeown, and Jim Collins, Miles explores why high-achieving people can accomplish a lot and still feel like the next case, goal, win, or milestone is not enough. He breaks down...

In this episode of Coopers’ Code, Miles Cooper and Shahrad Milanfar look at how AI is creating real legal consequences across product liability, privacy, discovery, copyright, and cybersecurity. They discuss recent verdicts involving Meta, Google, and YouTube, including New Mexico’s case against Meta, and what these outcomes may signal for future claims tied to social media, addictive design, and...