Trial Lawyers University

A thousand-pound gate falls on a woman. The last thing she remembers is being on the property and going down stairs. She suffers a TBI. The defense's theory: She’s a liar. So is her husband. So are the fire personnel who responded. And the bystanders. Sagi Shaked takes host Dan Ambrose through the play-by-play of how he exposed the defense’s “conspiracy theory.” The jury saw through it and awarded...

Little island. Big cases. Bigger verdicts. Russ Pate is a solo plaintiff lawyer in St. Croix whose career has included a combined $113 million verdict in two consolidated tobacco cases and $6.3 million verdict in a premises liability trial. He also worked with the Virgin Islands’ attorney general to pursue civil claims against the Jeffrey Epstein estate using the Virgin Islands' unique tax credit...

They offered $100,000. She demanded $450,000. They wouldn't budge — so she went to trial. The jury came back with $10 million. To this day, it remains the highest pain-and-suffering verdict in Luzerne County history. Meet Melissa Scartelli , the author of that verdict and many others. A 35-year trial veteran and founder of Scartelli Olszewski , Melissa has built her practice around medical malprac...

Przemek Lubecki embodies the American dream. He and his family emigrated from Poland, living in Germany before gaining asylum in the United States in 1989 and settling in St. Louis. After trying over 100 cases during seven and a half years at a Chicago defense firm, Przemek transitioned to the plaintiffs’ side. TLU 2021 proved transformational, exposing him to plaintiff lawyers operating at the hi...

A former prosecutor who now runs his own firm, Andrew Pickett visits host Dan Ambrose to reveal his strategies for success in the courtroom and in business. From his origin story as a college swimmer to his 42 jury trials as a prosecutor to his recent $9 million wrongful death verdict, Andrew shares lessons learned. Tune in for his insights about how hiring a psychodramatist transformed his witnes...

Jeremy Babener helps plaintiffs and trial lawyers keep more of their settlements and verdicts through tax-saving agreements. In this conversation with host Dan Ambrose , Jeremy reflects on how he landed in this specialized field during law school – his evidence course was canceled, so he switched to a tax policy class. Before graduating from law school, he was already advising on $20-30 million se...

Broadcasting from Cabo San Lucas, host Dan Ambrose gathers five participants in the recent TLU bootcamp to reflect on their experience and role-play techniques. The guests include Johnnie Bond from D.C., Matt Nakajima from Cincinnati, Mohamad Ahmad from Los Angeles, Alejandro Gonzalez from Miami, and Jared Smith from Kentucky. Tune in for their insights about discipline, self-coaching techniques,...

Over the past year, Kimball Jones has taken six cases to trial, securing more than $700 million in verdicts and settlements. In this conversation with host Dan Ambrose , Kimball breaks down the cases that led to a $550 million verdict, $114 million verdict, and $31 million verdict. Kimball explains that a huge part of his success is knowing what cases to take to trial and understanding how to fram...

Picture learning trial methodology while fishing in the afternoon, shooting archery, and riding horses across 1,750 acres of Missouri ranch land. Celebrated trial lawyer Sach Oliver tells host Dan Ambrose how this "magical place" will host his intensive “Depositions Our Trial” workshops starting in November 2027. Before that, at TLU Beach in June 2026, Sach will share lessons about managing money...

Clashes with the judge. Nineteen expert depositions. Ten hours of court hearings leading to trial. Outcome: $51.3 million for a construction worker who was electrocuted on a job site. Mohamad Ahmad discusses the remarkable journey of the Maggio case and his career in this conversation with host Dan Ambrose . After getting no job offers after his UCLA Law summer clerkship and starting his own firm,...

Alex Ivanov’s journey to Angel Reyes & Associates in Texas started when he fled his native Belarus after refusing KGB recruitment, arriving in America at age 21 with $380. Just three years into trying cases, he secured his first seven-figure verdict on a non-surgical pain management case where the defense offered only $90K on a $250K policy. How? Leveraging strategies developed by host Dan Amb...

Two North Carolina attorneys who served their country and are now serving their clients discuss what they gained from the Trial Lawyer University’s Joe Fried Trucking Bootcamp. Will Meekins , with two years of experience handling catastrophic injury cases in western North Carolina, and Ryan McCollum with three civil trials under his belt in Raleigh, both graduated from West Point. They met years l...

In 1984, Eric Oliver was teaching persuasion skills to marketeers in computer firms. When he transitioned to trial consulting that year, he found a new audience. In two years, “lawyers took all my time…because nobody had ever taught persuasion, influence, and communication to attorneys at that time. They still don't.” In this wide-ranging discussion with host Dan Ambrose , Eric reveals how he acci...

It was a longshot case. After all, the jury knew that John Martin ’s client, suing for employment discrimination, already had retirement benefits. But this fight was about whether she was entitled to a different category of benefits. Confident they’d win, the defense rejected an offer to mediate. A jury awarded $1.75 million. “I just got the email this morning that they just mailed the checks,” Jo...

“Every employment case is a story about betrayal,” says George Moschopoulos , who recently convinced jurors that the Los Angeles Unified School District failed to work in good faith to find his disabled client another role in the organization. Host Dan Ambrose unpacks the case, from the six-figure pretrial offer to the juror who compelled the team to pivot their strategy to the $3 million verdict....

Looking back on this month’s TLU Beach, Joe Fried says attendees and even vendors declared it the best program yet. The renowned trucking attorney from Fried Goldberg joins host Dan Ambrose to reflect on the event’s success and preview their five-day Trucking Bootcamp in August. That event will combine Joe's 20-plus years of trucking expertise with Dan's performance skills training, guiding trial...

Working on the Golden State Killer Task Force, which prosecuted a notorious California serial killer, was a career highlight for Bobby Taghavi . But, after serving in a prosecutor’s office, “the next step is to be a manager until you run for a judge” – and Bobby was “way too young to run for judge.” He made the leap into personal injury law. Now managing partner at Sweet James Accident Attorneys ,...

Born without his right leg, Conal Doyle is an accomplished athlete who refuses to let challenges get in his way. “And I've carried that through my legal career, taking really tough cases to trial.” With host Dan Ambrose , Conal shares his journey from defense attorney to a leading plaintiff’s attorney in California. The founder of Doyle Law , Conal handles only 5 to 10 high-value amputation and TB...

To effectively talk with a jury about non-economic damages, you need a star witness – usually not your client – who can communicate how an injury affected your client. In this conversation with host Dan Ambrose ,   Ashkahn Mohamadi discusses how he leveraged his technique in recent trials to secure multi-million-dollar verdicts. He’ll teach the formula at TLU Beach (June 4-7). Train and Conne...

About 25 years ago – years after stints as a professional pilot, steel worker, and certified public accountant – Randy Calvert discovered focus groups. “I just saw the value, and then, the more you do it, the more value you see in it,” he explains to host Dan Ambrose . Tune in to learn how Randy’s methodical approach—such as using statistically representative participants rather than recruits from...

After suffering two trial losses, Tim Felice wondered if he wanted to put himself out there again. But as he read about a new case, and spoke with the client, “I just started getting fired up more and more and more.” In this case break-down with host Dan Ambrose , Tim discusses how he represented a musician who was catastrophically injured by a drunk truck driver. The verdict—$77.3 million in comp...

"When you get a verdict, you have till midnight to either celebrate or to sulk," observes John Romano . With 51 years of trial experience, John reflects on his journey from military JAG prosecutor with 125 trials under his belt to becoming one of America's most prolific trial advocacy teachers. Tune in to this conversation with host Dan Ambrose for John’s breakdown of a spine injury case where he...

"I lost a huge trial and it was a very sobering and depressing, challenging verdict to receive," recalls Kurt Zaner in a candid conversation with host Dan Ambrose . After 20 consecutive civil trial victories, Kurt shares the hard lessons from his first defense verdict in a six-week ethylene oxide exposure case. Tune in for his insights about how even elite trial lawyers must continually refine the...

Kenny Berger is fighting tort reform in South Carolina, so he has advice for lawyers who are joining similar fights: “Have themes and principles that transcend party.” The founder of The Law Offices of Kenneth Berger , Kenny visits with host Dan Ambrose for a conversation about his political work and his legal practice. He also previews his session at TLU Beach (June 4-7), where he will teach how...

"By getting the first impression on a topic—whether good or bad—you create something that sticks, making it much harder for the defense to change it later," explains Stephen Burg in conversation with host Dan Ambrose . From surviving the Columbine tragedy to overcoming a rugby injury that left him with a traumatic brain injury, Stephen shares the moments of personal adversity that shaped his advoc...