Trial Lawyers University

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 | YouTubeEpisode 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

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 | YouTubeEpisode 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

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 | YouTubeEpisode 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

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 | YouTubeEpisode 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

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 | YouTubeEpisode 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