Elawvate: The Trial Lawyer Podcast

Join Ben and Rahul for their discussion with top Alaska trial lawyer, Meg Simonian.  Meg shares her journey from growing up as one of seven children with parents who did not graduate from high school to attending law school and becoming one of the nation’s best trial lawyers.  After graduating from law school, Meg worked as a Federal public defender and then joined the practice of legendary trial...

With 37 verdicts of more than a million dollars, few lawyers in America can match the track record of success of New York trial lawyer Judy Livingston.  What’s more, many of Judy’s verdicts came at a time when few women were trial lawyers.  Join Ben and Rahul for their in-depth interview with Judy in which they explore the sources of the courage and fortitude that fueled her success.  Judy shares...

Join Ben for his conversation with legendary Kentucky trial lawyer, Peter Perlman.  Peter talks about how his upbringing, as the son of a 5 and 10 cent store owner, shaped his values and taught him the importance of finding ways to help others.  During his long and successful career as a trial lawyer, Peter applied these lessons in cases that helped his individual clients and led to larger industr...

Join Ben for his discussion with attorneys Taylor Asen and Trevor Savage about their recent $2.4 million verdict in Bangor, Maine in a case involving a surgical mal positioning that caused an arm injury and CRPS.  Taylor and Trevor explain how they worked closely with the client to get her to the right specialist who could diagnose her medical condition.  They talk about the challenges of presenti...

Join Rahul and Ben for their conversation with Canadian trial lawyer, Paul Miller, who shares the fascinating account of his effort to find justice for Canadian diplomats impacted by Havana Syndrome.  Paul explains the mounting evidence showing that Canadian and American diplomats posted in Cuba, England, Russia, Vietnam, and China have been targeted by weapons that use microwave or similar techno...

Join Rahul and Ben for their discussion with Indiana trial lawyer Lee Christie and Trial Lawyers for Justice Attorney, Karen Zahka, as they break down their recent trial against Tesla.  Although the case started out as a simple pickup truck vs. motorcycle accident involving a left turn, the personal involvement of Elon Musk led to an unusual investment of resources on the defense side and high dra...

In this episode, Rahul and Ben discuss major trends in trial practice and big picture take aways from the last 3 ½ years of the podcast.  The conversation begins with a discussion of nuclear verdicts in the golden age of trial, moves on to case analysis and key issues, then to strategies or courtroom success, and ends with discussion of the impact of the MAGA juror.     About Rahul   https://www.p...

We’ve all heard the stories of doctors who cause harm to patients by systematically performing medically unnecessary procedures, just to line their own pockets.  These circumstances rise to a level beyond ordinary medical negligence to fraud or criminal acts.  However, when we litigate individual medical malpractice cases, the rules of discovery and evidence can pose barriers that make it difficul...

Louisville, Kentucky trial lawyer Sheila Hiestand has harnessed the same competitive zeal she had as a starting center on a division one college basketball team to become one of Kentucky’s leading trial lawyers.  Sheila has successfully litigated and tried many high-profile cases, including a recent case in which she obtained a $36 Million judgment on behalf of the family of victims of a January 2...

Before Maryland-based trial lawyer Reza Davani began rolling the dice with juries, he was a competitive poker player. Join Ben and Rahul for their discussion with Reza, in which he recounts how principles and lessons learned from playing poker translate to trial practice. Reza provides many valuable strategies for trial success, including identifying and planting “landmines” for the defense as par...

From representing Yoko Ono to winning class action lawsuits on behalf of actors and musicians, Neville Johnson and his partner Douglas Johnson (no relationship) have built one of the most interesting and successful entertainment law practices in the nation, specializing in representing “talent” as opposed to the business side of the industry.  Join Rahul and Ben for a fascinating discussion with N...

Chicago-based trial lawyer Jeffrey Kroll is no stranger to risk.  On the road to some of his biggest verdicts, including a 2017 verdict for $148 million, Jeff has turned down big money to cast his lot with the jury.  Join Ben and Rahul for their conversation with Jeff, in which he discusses some of the core beliefs and strategies that inform his highly successful approach to trying cases to juries...

Join Ben and Rahul for their discussion with Ohio Trial Lawyer, Allen Tittle who recently obtained a $6.19 million verdict in a difficult medical malpractice case in rural Ohio.  This was a case that Allen round tabled with Ben’s breakout medical malpractice group at the PSBR trial college in California last year.  We discuss how Allen successfully used the hospital policies to establish the stand...

When trial lawyer Jamal Alsaffar of Austin Texas heard about the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, he had the eerie feeling of history repeating itself.  Many of the facts were strikingly similar to what had occurred in the Sutherland Springs church mass shooting case in Texas that Jamal tried to a Federal judge, resulting in a $230 million judgment for the families.  In the process, Jamal also fo...

Join Ben for his interview of Scott Perry, one of Virgina’s most talented and successful trial lawyers.  Scott talks about his transition from Big Law to plaintiffs work and his later transition from a narrow focus on medical malpractice to a broader practice.  Scott discusses some of his landmark cases, including a case that changed the safety standard for American rowing and a recent $10 million...

During a recent two-month period, Maryland and Pennsylvania-based trial lawyers Briggs Bedigian and Jon Stefanuca obtained verdicts of $34 million and $187 million in back-to-back trials in complex birth injury cases.  Join Ben and Rahul for their discussion with Briggs and Jon about their path to handling these challenging, highly leveraged, and risky cases, and the strategies they have developed...

Gideon Asen attorney, Trevor Savage, joins the podcast to talk about a recent case he and Ben Gideon tried involving a delay in diagnosis of prostate cancer.  Ben and Trevor discuss some of the legal challenges they had to overcome and how they used focus groups and big data to identify key issues and frame the case effectively for trial.  They discuss their approach to voir dire, opening statemen...

Join Ben for his discussion with trial lawyers Larry and Lauren Acker from Travers City, Michigan.  Larry, who has spent his career trying legal and accounting malpractice claims, offers insights into how best to avoid having money embezzled from your law practice and how to avoid being sued for malpractice.  This father and daughter team discuss trying a recent accounting malpractice case togethe...

Douglas “Monte” Tynes is a second-generation trial lawyer from Pascagoula, Mississippi.  Monte, who serves as the co-chair of the damages section of the Edge Trial College, has an insatiable desire to continue learning and getting better at the craft of trying cases.  In his career, Monte has tried numerous jury trials in civil rights, employment, personal injury, and medical malpractice cases.  H...

Join Ben and Rahul for their conversation with Nevada trial lawyer Christian Morris.  Attorney Morris describes her journey, from going up on a farm in Maine with no electricity or running water to being named 2019 Trial Lawyer of the Year in Nevada after obtaining a $31 million verdict on behalf of a young California woman who suffered anaphylactic shock while attending a convention in Las Vegas....

In this episode, Ben and Rahul break down the recent $46 million verdict Rahul obtained in a case on behalf of a client injured during a Brazilian Jujitsu class.  Rahul talks about how he frames the issues in the case to deal with the challenge of many jurors believing that those who engage in dangerous activities, like Jujitsu, assume the risk of injury.  He shares his approach to voir dire and t...

Join Ben and Rahul for their interview of San Francisco trial lawyer, Sarah London of Lieff Cabraser.  Sarah explains how her interest in community organizing ultimately led her to a career as a plaintiff trial lawyer.  She views the law as the ultimate weapon for promoting positive societal change.  Not long after becoming a lawyer, Sarah London found herself in Florida trying case after case aga...

Episode Summary   John and Alicia Campbell join Ben and Rahul for a follow up discussion on the value of Big Data in preparing cases for trial.  John is joined by his business partner, fellow attorney and wife, Alicia Campbell.  John and Alicia discuss their forthcoming book, co-authored with Attorney Sean Claggett, in which they present both the science and practical uses of big data to help tria...

Join Ben and Rahul for their discussion with legendary trial lawyer Brian Panish, founding partner of Los-Angeles-based trial firm, Panish Shea Boyle and Ravipudi (PSBR).  Brian discusses how the values he learned growing up and playing competitive sports through college shaped his work ethic and approach to the competition of trial practice.  Brian shares keys to success at trial and in building...

Maine trial lawyers, Jodi Nofsinger and Susan Faunce join Ben and Rahul to talk about how they have joined together to form a powerhouse trial team and recently won a $6.5 million verdict in a malpractice case in Maine.  Jodi and Susan talk about their diverse backgrounds which led them to become trial lawyers and how they have worked together over the years to form one of Maine’s most successful...