The jiu-jitsu club had a $1 million insurance policy, but when an instructor accidentally rendered a new student an incomplete quadriplegic, the carrier put its interest above their own insured’s – and paid the price. Rahul Ravipudi, who represented the victim, updates co-host Ben Gideon on the groundbreaking case. After the defendants refused to pay the policy limit, the case went to trial, and a jury awarded Rahul’s client $46 million. The defendants appealed, the judgment was affirmed, and most recently, the California Supreme Court denied the defendant’s request to review the verdict – which has increased to $56 million with interest. Rahul imagines the defense counsel and insurance adjusters discussing how many times they’ve had to actually pay the policy limit on such a case: “So, look like the hero, and save your insurance company $250,500,000. It’s that ‘penny-wise/pound foolish.’”

☑️ Ben Gideon | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

☑️ Gideon Asen on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

☑️ Rahul Ravipudi | LinkedIn | Instagram

☑️ Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

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Elawvate’s “Build & Grow Your Law Firm” podcast devotes its third episode to EOS, or “entrepreneurial operating system.” Your guide is Megan Piper, a certified EOS implementer who coaches clients along their journey from “chaos to cohesion.” In this conversation with hosts Ben Gideon and Jeff Wright, she describes how law firms can leverage EOS to clarify their vision, drive accountability, and scale effectively.

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Ken Suggs recalls the time when he “chickened out” rather than go ahead with his experiment that involved dropping a box of typewriting paper on a steel box to show the crash worthiness of a car. He lost that case. “I've got a phrase that I like to repeat to myself when I'm trying to make one of those decisions,” he says, “which is, ‘Drop the box. Go ahead and do it.’” Ken and trial partner Tara Eberly at Janet, Janet & Suggs share how risk-taking has helped build the firm’s successful personal injury practice. Hosts Ben Gideon and Rahul Ravipudi explore the team’s insights about neuroscience applications in jury persuasion, cutting-edge technology, and innovative AI tools.

☑️ Tara Eberly | LinkedIn

☑️ Ken Suggs | LinkedIn

☑️ Janet, Janet & Suggs | LinkedIn

☑️ Ben Gideon | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

☑️ Gideon Asen on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

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☑️ Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

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Building a law firm and building a law firm designed for growth: Often mistaken. Very different. Tune in to the second episode of Elawvate’s “Build & Grow Your Law Firm” podcast to understand the difference. Your guides are Ben Gideon, founder of Gideon Asen, and the firm’s COO, Jeff Wright. They share their insights about leveraging existing problem-solving skills, understanding established business models, and defining the kind of firm you want to build.

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☑️ Ben Gideon | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

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☑️ Gideon Asen on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

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Described by host Ben Gideon as “the Brazilian jujitsu of trial lawyers,” Dennis Donnelly shares his insights from 44 years in practice. “I don't know about all of you, but I try a lot of cases, and usually somewhere in the trial, I tell myself, ‘This is why this happened,’” Dennis says, adding, “But it takes a while to get there.” In this conversation with Ben and Rahul Ravipudi, Dennis describes how he “gets there”: by understanding why things happen—not just what happened— to transform case presentation and jury persuasion.

☑️ Dennis Donnelly | LinkedIn

☑️ The Donnelly Law Firm | LinkedIn

☑️ Ben Gideon | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

☑️ Gideon Asen on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

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☑️ Panish Shea Ravipudi on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

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For four years, you’ve tuned in to Elawvate, the podcast where “personal growth meets the practice of trial law.” Now, host Ben Gideon invites you to a special preview of Elawvate’s new “Build & Grow Your Law Firm” podcast, where you’ll learn the business of practicing law. Ben and co-host Jeff Wright, the COO of Gideon Asen, reflect on building the firm from startup to profitable powerhouse in just four years. But, as Ben explains in the premiere episode, "I really wish when we started our practice, someone had taken me under their wing and said, 'This is how you do this.’” If you’ve wished the same, you’re at the right place. 

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When police officers intentionally falsify evidence to arrest someone they believe is guilty, it’s usually "an ends-justify-the-means approach," says Doug Lieb. He and trial partners David Lebowitz and Alyssa Isidoridy challenge that approach in their civil rights practice, recently winning $7.6 million for a client who spent 30 years wrongfully imprisoned. With hosts Ben Gideon and Rahul Ravipudi, the guests reveal their collaborative case vetting process, the power of federal fee-shifting statutes, and why they choose federal court for civil rights litigation despite its challenges.

☑️ David Lebowitz | LinkedIn

☑️ Doug Lieb | LinkedIn

☑️ Alyssa Isidoridy | LinkedIn

☑️ Kaufman Lieb Lebowitz & Frick on LinkedIn | Facebook | X 

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"It's not rocket science," says Brian McKeen about trial advocacy. His record-breaking verdicts may suggest otherwise. The Detroit med-mal virtuoso shares with hosts Ben Gideon and Rahul Ravipudi how he transformed from a sports-obsessed student into one of Michigan's powerhouse plaintiff attorneys. From a $130 million med mal judgment to a $96 million trucking verdict, Brian reveals how deep medical knowledge and relentless case development unlock extraordinary outcomes. Most compelling are his civil rights cases against detention facilities, where he has leveraged video evidence to show neglect of vulnerable detainees. His message to young lawyers: Good trial advocacy is learnable with courage and commitment.

☑️ Brian McKeen | LinkedIn

☑️ McKeen & Associates on LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | X 

☑️ Ben Gideon | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

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In a personal injury case, the plaintiff’s lawyer must rely on witnesses to perform. In a bad-faith case, their job is educating the jury about the rules that insurance companies must follow. That’s how Ricardo Echeverria describes the two areas of his practice at Shernoff Bidart Echeverria. With hosts Ben Gideon and Rahul Ravipudi, he explains that he started his career focusing on PI but that evolved over the years to litigating bad faith cases. “They are definitely different kinds of cases and a different approach to cases altogether,” he says. Tune in for Ricardo’s insights about how he advocates for fire victims who are under-insured and why he'd "go back to milking cows" before representing insurance companies.

☑️ Ricardo Echeverria

☑️ Shernoff Bidart Echeverria on LinkedIn | Facebook | X

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When FDA guidelines failed their client, trial partners Austin Dana and Karen Zahka flipped the script by arguing for clinical judgment, typically a defense position. Hospitalized with an epileptic seizure at age 13, their client was old enough to receive an adult dosage of an anti-seizure medication, according to the FDA – but she weighed only 61 pounds, the weight of a child. That adult dosage led to their client getting Stevens-Johnson syndrome. “Our position was that the defendant should have deviated from the guidelines,” Karen explains to hosts Ben Gideon and Rahul Ravipudi. Tune in as Austin and Karen break down how they secured an $11.9 million verdict.

☑️ Karen Zahka | LinkedIn

☑️ Trial Lawyers For Justice on LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

☑️ Austin Dana | LinkedIn 

☑️ Keches Law Group on LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

☑️ Ben Gideon | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

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☑️ Gideon Asen on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

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