Trial Lawyers University

Dan Ambrose, Trial Lawyers University
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Satisfied with being an average trial attorney? This isn't the podcast for you. Welcome to Trial Lawyers University (TLU), the ultimate playbook for lawyers that want to achieve trial immortality. Hosted by TLU founder and veteran trial attorney Dan Ambrose, this power-packed podcast features in-depth interviews with Top Ranked Trial Lawyers, including Brian Panish, Keith Mitnik, Joe Fried, Zoe Littlepage, Rex Parris, John Romano, Sach Oliver, Jakob Norman, Dino Colombo, Lloyd Bell, Chris Finney, David Christensen, and more. In each episode, you’ll gain invaluable trial insights, strategies, and tactics directly from the titans of trial. Ready to join the group that continues to dominate the trial world? Register for our live conferences and boot camps at triallawyersuniversity.com. And while you are waiting for the main event, jumpstart your journey to victory now by going to TLUonDemand.com for instant access to live lectures, case analysis, skills training videos, expert depositions, jury selection, transcripts, pleadings, and more strategic insight to apply to every stage of litigation! Access is limited to attorneys for plaintiffs and criminal defendants. To begin your journey, all you need is a web browser.

  1. 1d ago

    Eric Oliver - Can you tell the STORY INSIDE your case?

    About half of any jury pool arrives assuming the game is rigged, and trial consultant Eric Oliver says you can't deny it. In his 41st year working with trial attorneys, Eric joins host Dan Ambrose to preview his new book, Assuming It to Be True, which tackles two hurdles jurors bring into the courtroom: unspoken assumptions and impaired attention. Eric explains why lawyers should approach every case as if it were a punitive case and frame damages as the deserved consequences of the defendant's wrongful conduct. Tune in to hear how the name you give the defendants can make their wrongdoing look worse, and how too much good evidence once cost a case against a cigarette company. Train and Connect with the Titans☑️ Eric Oliver | LinkedIn ☑️ MetaSystems Consulting | YouTube | LinkedIn ☑️ Trial Lawyers University ☑️ TLU On Demand Instant access to live lectures, case analysis, and skills training videos ☑️ TLU on X | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn ☑️ Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube 2026 & 2027 Programming ☑️ Claude Cowork Masterclass, October 8–9, 2026, Hermosa Beach, CA ☑️ Eric Oliver: Case Story Bootcamp, Oct 20–24, 2026, Hermosa Beach, CA ☑️ Joe Fried & Joe Camerlengo's Trucking Bootcamp, Dec 8–12, 2026, Hermosa Beach, CA ☑️ TLU AI Conference, February 18–19, 2027, Huntington Beach, CA ☑️ Phillip Miller's Advanced Deposition College, Feb 18–20, 2027, Huntington Beach, CA Episode SnapshotEric cites research showing one distracted moment can cost you a juror’s attention for an average of 23 minutes — long enough to lose half of a 45-minute opening.Many jurors are more motivated to punish a wrongdoing defendant than to help an injured plaintiff, so Eric establishes the wrongdoing before asking jurors to value the harm.About half of today's jury pool are "post-truth deciders" who share a fear that the people in charge don't have their interests at heart.Using the story model of decision-making, Eric structures cases in the sequence every good story follows: the situation and characters, then the action, and then the aftermath.In a delivery trauma case, Eric explains how simply calling the defendants "the delivery room doctors" sets up a norm that makes a largely absent supervising OB look far worse.Most lawyers speed up on cross-examination, and Eric pinpoints the two reasons it happens.How do you lose a case because you have too many incriminating documents? Eric shares what a Florida tobacco case taught him about good evidence backfiring.When a client blows a deposition, Eric turns the question back on the lawyer and explains how the right preparation shapes how jurors see your client at trial. Produced and Powered by LawPods

    Eric Oliver - Can you tell the STORY INSIDE your case?

  2. 5d ago

    What We Got From the TLU Performance Skills Bootcamp

    According to host Dan Ambrose, now is the "greatest time ever to become a trial lawyer" because all the strategy is out there. Fresh off his 59th five-day bootcamp, the TLU founder debriefs four working trial lawyers who came in frustrated by inconsistent verdicts, out-of-state competitors landing nine-figure results, and ingrained habits like rushing through openings. Using a truck versus motorcycle wrongful death case to practice opening statements and performance skills, they drilled the fundamentals that carry across every aspect of trial, from pace and breath to micro-connecting with jurors and creating space so a scene comes alive. Tune in to find out how mastering control of yourself can help deliver more impact in the courtroom. Train and Connect with the Titans☑️ Trial Lawyers University ☑️ TLU Beach ☑️ TLU On Demand Instant access to live lectures, case analysis, and skills training videos ☑️ TLU on X | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn ☑️ Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube Episode SnapshotFresh off bootcamp number 59, Dan explains that the same core skills of eye contact, hand movement, and voice control carry across all aspects of trial.Years ago in Iowa, Dan's mentor Dave Clark set him on this path with one idea: when you make the unconscious conscious, you become dangerous in the courtroom.Having completed his sixth bootcamp, Johnny Bond describes the training as a layered progression where at the advanced level, cross-examination becomes a trance built with the witness.Rick Sandoval explains why he joined the bootcamp: after nearly 30 years of practicing, he was sick of out-of-state lawyers pulling nine-figure verdicts in New Mexico.Steven's biggest takeaway from opening statements is micro-connecting with each juror so that they feel like a participant in the trial rather than one face in a box of twelve.After 38 years and well over a hundred trials, Sean Simpson admits he never trained pace and shares how this oversight prevents lawyers from connecting with jurors.Dan has no patience for lawyers who hand a client's deposition prep to an associate, and then blame the associate (or the terrified client) when it goes sideways.According to Dan, voir dire is essentially a script, and the best trial lawyers all repeat the same proven lines.Whether it's a jail, an airplane, or an asbestos exposure, the participants practice creating space so jurors don't just hear the story, they witness it. Produced and Powered by LawPods

    What We Got From the TLU Performance Skills Bootcamp

  3. Jul 23

    Seven, Eight-Figure Verdicts. Nine Figure Settlement. So Why Attend Trial Skills Boot Camp?

    After 26 years trying cases, and several scheduled attempts he never followed through on, Sagi Shaked finally attended a Trial Lawyers University bootcamp, inspired partly by his son Tomer, an incoming Georgetown Law student who trained alongside him. In this conversation with host Dan Ambrose, Sagi shares what he took from five days of training: mastering the rhythm and hand placement of cross-examination, building visual space and illusion of movement, and practicing witness prep that helps a witness relive, rather than recall, an event. He also explains how he applies these lessons to building traumatic brain injury cases, distinguishing them from routine orthopedic claims. Tune in for insights on cross-examination, courtroom visuals, and witness prep. Train and Connect with the Titans☑️ Sagi Shaked | LinkedIn ☑️ Shaked Law | LinkedIn | X | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube ☑️ Trial Lawyers University ☑️ TLU On Demand Instant access to live lectures, case analysis, and skills training videos ☑️ TLU on X | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn ☑️ Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube Episode Snapshot★ After seven scheduled attempts, Sagi Shaked finally completed a Trial Lawyers University bootcamp, motivated in part by training alongside his son Tomer, an incoming Georgetown Law student. ★ Sagi and Dan Ambrose walk through the bootcamp's cross-examination fundamentals: leading questions, present-tense phrasing, effective flip-chart use, and controlling breath and voice. ★ Sagi describes how rotating between the roles of lawyer, witness, and juror during training revealed how hand movement and eye contact "lock in" a witness or jury. ★ Working through his own upcoming intersection-crash trial, Sagi practiced building visual space and the illusion of movement to make courtroom storytelling more persuasive. ★ During witness prep for a civil rights case, Sagi and Dan worked to help a badly beaten witness relive his story instead of simply recalling it. ★ Sagi explains why mild traumatic brain injury cases require a different approach than orthopedic cases, describing TBI cases as functioning like wrongful death cases for the family left behind. ★ Sagi shares how he uses TLU On Demand and his own conference presentations to pass along what he's learned to other plaintiff trial lawyers. Produced and Powered by LawPods, a podcast marketing agency for law firms

    Seven, Eight-Figure Verdicts. Nine Figure Settlement. So Why Attend Trial Skills Boot Camp?

  4. Jul 11

    TLU Claude Bootcamp with Stephen King and HMK's Shemia Fagan

    From failed minister to car salesman to Oregon Secretary of State, Shemia Fagan has taken one of the more unconventional roads to plaintiff employment law. Now managing partner of six HKM Employment Attorneys offices and running over 200 active cases as the sole attorney on her team, Shemia joins guest host Stephen King and her partner Matthew Westerbeck to show how she does it: with Claude. Together they walk through a practical framework for trial lawyers — using the acronym TRIAL — covering AI-driven triage, research, intake review, advocacy prep, and continuous learning. Tune in for concrete strategies on email automation, judge simulation, deposition prep, and how AI frees lawyers to focus on the human skills no machine can replace. Train and Connect with the Titans☑️ Shemia Fagan | LinkedIn ☑️ HKM Employment Attorneys LLP | LinkedIn ☑️ Matthew Westerbeck | LinkedIn ☑️ Stephen King | LinkedIn ☑️ Kings Justice Law ☑️ Trial Lawyers University ☑️ TLU On Demand Instant access to live lectures, case analysis, and skills training videos ☑️ TLU Beach 2027 ☑️ TLU on X | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn ☑️ Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube Episode SnapshotShemia dropped out of a bachelor of divinity program at Boston University, sold cars for a couple of years to save for law school, then graduated from law school in Oregon in 2009 — building persuasion skills at every stage.While working at a corporate defense firm, Shemia simultaneously served in the Oregon legislature, passing paid sick leave and wage transparency laws — and quickly realized she would never make partner at a firm whose corporate clients were her political adversaries.Representing her mother in an age discrimination case, produced a settlement that let her mom buy her first home ever; that moment of purpose drew Shemia fully to the plaintiff side.After discovering Claude Cowork, Shemia spent the entire following weekend building email triage and expense-report automation — a "camel's nose under the tent" that transformed how she runs her practice.The episode introduces the TRIAL acronym — Triage, Research, Intake, Advocacy, Learning — as a practical roadmap for how plaintiff lawyers can deploy AI across every phase of their practice without sacrificing professional responsibility.Shemia used Claude to download all prior deposition transcripts of an opposing attorney 30 years her senior, extract their patterns and rule citations, and build a cheat sheet.Stephen King describes sleeping only an hour and a half per night during trial because AI had already anticipated every contingency — letting him stay fully present for the jury instead of managing logistics in his head. Produced and Powered by LawPods

    TLU Claude Bootcamp with Stephen King and HMK's Shemia Fagan

  5. Jun 26

    Trial Mindset: Reframe. Reaffirm. Reawaken. With Przemek Lubecki and Michael Cowen

    Depression. Insecurity. Seven-figure verdicts that didn't feel like enough. Michael Cowen — national trucking lawyer, trial veteran with 130+ cases, and host of his own podcast — had achieved the kind of success most lawyers dream about, and it still wasn't working for him psychologically. The turning point came when he stopped chasing a specific result and started trusting the process. In this conversation with guest host Przemek Lubecki, recorded live at TLU Huntington Beach 2026, Michael opens up about the mindset overhaul that unlocked eight-figure verdicts, the mantra he still repeats while waiting for a judge to take the bench, and the firm-wide case review system he uses to prevent his lawyers from undersettling cases. Train and Connect with the Titans☑️ Michael Cowen | LinkedIn ☑️ Cowen Law on Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Instagram, & YouTube ☑️ Przemek Lubecki | LinkedIn ☑️ Trial Lawyers University ☑️ TLU On Demand Instant access to live lectures, case analysis, and skills training videos ☑️ TLU on X | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn ☑️ Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube Episode Snapshot★ Michael graduated from law school, clerked on the Fifth Circuit, and joined a big law firm in New York City. ★ After moving back to Brownsville, Texas for his future wife, Michael joined a plaintiff firm under mentor Ed Stapleton, tried four cases in his first year, and inherited his own law firm just four years out of law school. ★ Michael describes a prolonged period of cyclical depression, weight gain, and insecurity — driven by taking too much personal responsibility for case outcomes. ★ His mindset transformation came through intensive coaching with Sari De La Motte, daily use of "The Miracle Morning" routine, and a mantra about trusting judges and juries that he still repeats silently in the courtroom. ★ Michael explains that truly earning courtroom confidence requires two experiences: winning a case to prove it's possible, and losing a big one to prove you survive it. ★ At Michael's firm, no commercial-policy case is allowed to proceed to a demand or mediation until the attorney has first presented it to the full firm at their weekly Tuesday lunch — a structured review designed to prevent undersettling. ★ Michael's Big Rig Bootcamp (July 9) will feature live cross-examination demonstrations, medical testimony training, and a deep dive on why facet joint injuries treated with radiofrequency ablation are million-dollar cases. Produced and Powered by LawPods

    Trial Mindset: Reframe. Reaffirm. Reawaken. With Przemek Lubecki and Michael Cowen

  6. Jun 19

    How the Ace of Las Vegas Got 8 Figure Results Against Big Corporations with Patrick Kang and Chris Hammons

    Some lawyers find the work. Others are found by it. Patrick Kang, founder of Ace Law Group in Las Vegas, watched lawyers in suits change his family's life when he was a child — and never forgot it. When his father, a GM factory worker, had an engine fall on him, the settlement became seed money for a shoe store — and a chance at a better life. Patrick joins guest host Chris Hammons at TLU Beach. After three straight defense verdicts in 2017 nearly broke his confidence, Patrick stopped mimicking the “reptile” script and won by adapting it to his authentic style. Tune in for insights on a $15 million slip-and-fall verdict, a 15-year sexual harassment crusade, and why non-economic damages are where cases are truly won. Train and Connect with the Titans☑️ Patrick Kang | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook ☑️ Ace Law Group | Facebook | Instagram ☑️ Trial Lawyers University ☑️ TLU On Demand Instant access to live lectures, case analysis, and skills training videos ☑️ TLU on X | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn ☑️ Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube Episode SnapshotPatrick's father, a GM factory worker, suffered a serious on-the-job injury when an engine fell on him; the resulting settlement funded a shoe store in Detroit and a move to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan — a turning point that Patrick now believes drove him toward law.After graduating from John Carroll University and Cooley Law School, Patrick moved to Las Vegas on his father's advice — the city had a fast-growing Korean population and zero Korean attorneys serving it, making him an immediate commodity at his first firm.Patrick founded Ace Law Group in June 2009 — the name chosen to work in both worlds: the Las Vegas playing card and the Korean cultural term for a standout individual.After three consecutive defense verdicts circa 2017 trying to deliver “reptile” scripts verbatim, Patrick decided to adapt the method to his own authentic style and began winning.A $15 million verdict against the Cosmopolitan hotel in Las Vegas for a slip-and-fall client who suffered a complete hamstring tear was built on non-economic damages.A 15-year personal crusade against Las Vegas sexual harassment defense culture ended with a $1.49 million jury verdict — won in part by a corroborating witness who spontaneously named the porn sites she caught the defendant doctor watching.Patrick builds client confidence heading into trial by wallpapering his office with 20 giant Post-it notes laying out the full trial plan: order of proof, key evidence etc. — then bringing clients in to see it. Produced and Powered by LawPods

    How the Ace of Las Vegas Got 8 Figure Results Against Big Corporations with Patrick Kang and Chris Hammons

  7. Jun 18

    TLU Beach 2026 Recap with the '80's Tracksuit Brothers, Dan Ambrose and Mohamad Ahmad

    Most lawyers leave legal conferences with a notebook full of ideas and no plan to use them. Mohamad Ahmad left TLU Beach 2026 having already texted his tech team to implement what he heard — and he hadn't even left the session yet. A plaintiff attorney and TLU veteran, Mohamad joins host Dan Ambrose for a candid debrief on what made this year's conference stand apart — starting with the pre-conference bootcamp, where his biggest takeaway was a surprisingly simple one: breath training. When a trial lawyer stops breathing under pressure, the jury feels it. Train the breath, and the performance becomes natural. Mohamad also breaks down the workshop he led on demonstratives and his team's lecture on extracting evidence from government agencies that routinely withhold it. Train and Connect with the Titans☑️ Mohamad Ahmad | LinkedIn ☑️ Kermani LLP | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X ☑️ Trial Lawyers University ☑️ TLU On Demand Instant access to live lectures, case analysis, and skills training videos ☑️ TLU on X | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn ☑️ Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube Episode Snapshot★ Mohamad Ahmad describes TLU Beach 2026 as "the best 10 days of legal everything,” adding that he was genuinely sad when it ended. ★ His biggest takeaway from the TLU Bootcamp: breath training — when you stop thinking and just breathe, the jury senses confidence instead of tension, and your performance becomes natural. ★ Trial is like flying a plane with 25 moving parts; the bootcamp breaks each part down one at a time so that, in the courtroom, it all runs like a synchronized orchestra. ★ Mohamad led a packed workshop on demonstratives for trial: using metaphors, props, the classroom space itself — and his partner Michael Carter's principle that "you yourself are a demonstrative." ★ In a wrongful death case, Michael Carter places a casket in the courtroom "in a somber, credible way" and never violates that space — a powerful example of how physical demonstratives shape jury perception. ★ Mohamad and his team gave a lecture on extracting information from public entities — police reports, ambulance and fire records, DA files — because government agencies, by choice or incompetence, routinely withhold evidence at first try. ★ Brian Panish, in the middle of a trial that produced a $176 million compensatory verdict, showed up to TLU Beach on Saturday with a boot on his foot — a reminder that the top of the game still shows up every day. Produced and Powered by LawPods

    TLU Beach 2026 Recap with the '80's Tracksuit Brothers, Dan Ambrose and Mohamad Ahmad

  8. Jun 5

    Massive TBI Verdict Against Topgolf! with Chris Hammons & Anne Foster

    Topgolf was warned in 2012. A risk manager photographed the exact spot, flagged it, recommended safety barriers. Almost a decade later, a nine-year-old boy was struck in that same spot at a Portland birthday party and left with a traumatic brain injury — three metal plates now holding his skull together. Anne Foster, founding member of Smith Foster King in Portland, tells guest host Chris Hammons how she built the case around a decade of ignored warnings, turned Topgolf's own marketing tagline against the blame-the-parents defense using focus groups, and forced Topgolf to pay the full verdict plus an undisclosed amount to avoid punitive damages. Train and Connect with the Titans☑️ Anne Foster | LinkedIn ☑️ Smith Foster King | LinkedIn ☑️ Chris Hammons | LinkedIn ☑️ Laird Hammons Laird Law | Instagram | LinkedIn ☑️ Trial Lawyers University ☑️ TLU On Demand Instant access to live lectures, case analysis, and skills training videos ☑️ TLU on X | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn ☑️ Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube Episode SnapshotAfter 25 years defending at Dunn Carney in Portland, Anne transitioned to plaintiff's work and found it transformed her career: "I found my life's dream. It wasn't just being in the courtroom, but I was actually helping to change people's lives."On Veterans Day 2021, a nine-year-old boy attending a birthday party at Topgolf Portland was struck in the head by a golf club — suffering a fractured frontal lobe requiring three permanent metal plates — when Topgolf's Bay host failed to provide the required safety tour to any of the bays that day.Philadelphia Insurance's risk manager had visited Topgolf locations as early as 2012 and recommended installing physical barriers, even photographing people standing exactly where the boy was later struck; Topgolf was told more than 10 times to put up a railing and never did, even as the chain expanded from a handful of stores to 100 locations nationwide.Anne found Topgolf's own website marketing language for kids' birthday parties — "You invite the kids, we'll take care of the rest" — and tested it in focus groups; skeptical mock jurors who had blamed the parents immediately shifted when confronted with that phrase.West Coast incident data produced in discovery showed hundreds of injuries over five years, the majority involving children, with 90% being strikes to the head and neck.To convey the brain injury's impact to the jury, Anne went beyond medical evidence — using adult family friends who were both teachers to testify about the boy's behavioral changes, and building the examination around stories she could reference visually in closing.Topgolf ultimately paid the full jury verdict plus an additional undisclosed amount rather than proceed to a punitive damages trial; the resolution followed a jury finding that the boy had done nothing wrong. Produced and Powered by LawPods

    Massive TBI Verdict Against Topgolf! with Chris Hammons & Anne Foster
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About

Satisfied with being an average trial attorney? This isn't the podcast for you. Welcome to Trial Lawyers University (TLU), the ultimate playbook for lawyers that want to achieve trial immortality. Hosted by TLU founder and veteran trial attorney Dan Ambrose, this power-packed podcast features in-depth interviews with Top Ranked Trial Lawyers, including Brian Panish, Keith Mitnik, Joe Fried, Zoe Littlepage, Rex Parris, John Romano, Sach Oliver, Jakob Norman, Dino Colombo, Lloyd Bell, Chris Finney, David Christensen, and more. In each episode, you’ll gain invaluable trial insights, strategies, and tactics directly from the titans of trial. Ready to join the group that continues to dominate the trial world? Register for our live conferences and boot camps at triallawyersuniversity.com. And while you are waiting for the main event, jumpstart your journey to victory now by going to TLUonDemand.com for instant access to live lectures, case analysis, skills training videos, expert depositions, jury selection, transcripts, pleadings, and more strategic insight to apply to every stage of litigation! Access is limited to attorneys for plaintiffs and criminal defendants. To begin your journey, all you need is a web browser.

Information

  • Creator
    Dan Ambrose, Trial Lawyers University
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    125
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Dan Ambrose, Trial Lawyers University
  • Show Website
    Trial Lawyers University

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