Trial Lawyers University

Nine jurors blamed Kurt Zaner's client, a homeless man sleeping under a trailer, not the truck driver who ran him over. Still, when Kurt visited him afterwards, the man was as happy as if he'd won $10 million because someone had finally fought for him. That spirit drives Dragon Slayers, the listserv that Kurt, a Colorado trial lawyer and TLU instructor, built with inspiration from a fantasy author. Members share wins, raw losses, and referrals, guided by ideals like putting the journey before the destination and accepting that some clients cannot be saved. Tune in as Kurt tells host Dan Ambrose what AI still can't do on cross and how befriending defense counsel can mean less fight back.Train and Connect with the Titans☑️ Kurt Zaner | LinkedIn☑️ Zaner Law | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | 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 | YouTube2026 & 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, CAEpisode SnapshotAfter realizing his talks all drew on fantasy novels, Kurt started Dragon Slayers, a listserv whose trial lawyer members stand between their clients and "dragons" like insurers and corporations, sharing wins, raw losses, and referrals.Kurt answers Gerry Spence's warning that you can't be a great lawyer and a great father with "informed consent": consciously choosing what to sacrifice instead of defaulting to nonstop work.Despite two years on a knee cart, Kurt still exercises daily and explains why lawyers need to stay healthy for their clients, their families, and themselves.Kurt's firm uses Supio to write every pre-litigation demand, draft discovery, summarize depositions, and draft directs and crosses, but he credits human creativity for his most explosive cross material.Because a case might still end in a loss, Kurt makes a point of embracing every victory, from a $50,000 settlement to winning a deposition or a motion to compel.After passing on a workers' comp bad faith case that Sean Claggett successfully tried to a $145 million verdict in Colorado, Kurt learned to be happy that the client found the right lawyer at the right time.For the last five years, Kurt has sincerely tried to befriend defense trial lawyers, which he says makes trials more enjoyable and has even led to case referrals.Produced and Powered by LawPods

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 | YouTube2026 & 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, CAEpisode 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

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 | YouTubeEpisode 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

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