Elawvate Rahul Ravipudi, Ben Gideon

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 together and the approach to communicating these types of cases to jurors.

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. He tries cases in Mississippi, in some of the most conservative and difficult plaintiff’s venues in the Country. Monte shares his recent experience achieving a verdict of almost $ 1 million in a low speed, no damage, rear-end car accident trial in a conversative Mississippi venue. Monte talks about his “speed trial” technique and how he presented his difficult damages case. Monte talks about other lessons learned from this and several other recent trials, and what he is continuing to do each day to hone is skills at the craft of trying cases.

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. Along the way, Attorney Morris describes how she found her own authentic approach, style, and voice as a lawyer that has enabled her to connect with jurors and to build a successful practice and career that she loves.

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 to obtaining this high-value verdict in a relatively conservative venue where verdicts tend to be on the lower side. Rahul talks about how the verdict was received in the Jujitsu community and how it is likely to lead to changes that will make the practice safer.

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 against the big tobacco companies. At first, the plaintiffs were losing every trial. But in time, they found strategies to turn the cases around, win, and obtain large verdicts. This experience of trying similar cases over and over provided a laboratory for better understanding of how to select juries and frame a case for trial success. The insights gained through this process are valuable not just for tobacco litigation, but anyone who conducts jury trials. Sarah was recently appointed as co-lead counsel for the Juul litigation. Sarah’s insights into trial lawyer are both practical and inspirational. You won’t want to miss this episode!

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 trial lawyers make better decisions and achieve better trial results. In this episode, John and Alicia discuss some of the lessons learned from years of jury research and big data studies; how the data is best used to maximize value at trial; and some of the common mistakes trial lawyers make in case presentation and jury selection that can impact the win rate and verdict value in the case.