Trial Attorney Tad Eckenrode of Eckenrode-Bauman joins Bill Kanasky, Jr, Ph.D. to talk about the current state of medical malpractice litigation. Bill and Tad discuss the reasons for a lack of trust in the healthcare system. They talk about questioning strategies in voir dire to identify more specifically where juror frustrations with the healthcare system stems from and the challenge with not being able to discuss insurance with jurors. Tad and Bill also discuss the challenges with medical malpractice cases in the correctional facilities space and their perspectives on the use of AI in healthcare and the risks of using AI in both the patient/provider relationship and in the legal process. Last, Bill and Tad talk about witness pivoting, the problems that occur when a witness pivots, and the problem with attorneys who encourage their witnesses to ramble and be evasive in order to keep opposing counsel from getting a clean transcript.

Brent Turman, Attorney with Munsch Hardt, and Sean Murphy, Practice Lead of CSI's Crisis Consulting services, join Steve Wood, Ph.D. to talk about the recent verdicts against Meta and Google and what the juries in those cases found. Brent compares social media platforms to tobacco companies in the fact that these platforms were developed to be addictive. Brent also talks about how the representatives of these companies performed on the witness stand and the internal documentation that these companies had that made it clear they were aware of the risks of their platforms, particularly when it comes to children. Steve, Brent, and Sean discuss the crisis communications challenges for these companies and how these lawsuits are comparable to personal injury lawsuits.

Triple board-certified legal nurse expert Marilyn McCullum, joins Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D., to talk about her experience as an emergency room nurse expert witness. Marilyn works with attorneys on both sides to review emergency room medical records, which can be more nuanced than regular medical records. Marilyn talks about the differences between working with plaintiff and defense attorneys and her experience and philosophy for depositions. Marilyn also shares her thoughts about the ER triage process and how she manages being asked to criticize the performance and decision making of nurses and physicians. She also talks about the challenge of communication issues with the number of healthcare personnel who may be involved in ER cases. Lastly, Bill and Marilyn discuss policies and procedures, the standard of care, and the toughest cases they work on.

Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D. defines the competence trap with witnesses. Bill shares why there is often a perception that witnesses who are highly competent in their jobs will perform really well as witnesses during testimony and why this often isn't true. He describes several reasons why some witnesses who are highly skilled in their professional positions may not make good witnesses. Bill talks about having to break down and rebuild highly accomplished witnesses in order to get them ready for success at deposition.

CSI Litigation Consultant Linda Khzam, M.A. joins Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D. to talk about illogical thought patterns of witnesses. Often witnesses have misconceptions about the litigation process or concerns about ramifications of their performance in the deposition, which need to be addressed before any prep can start. Bill and Linda share how they help witnesses open up so they can address any distracting thinking patterns that will prevent the witness from doing well in the prep and also talk about the biggest issue that they deal with which is witnesses trying to "win" the deposition. They explain why witness brains are hard-wired to certain thought patterns and how they have to ""rewire"" the brain in order to break these ingrained ways of thinking.

Paul Molinaro, M.D., J.D. joins Steve Wood, Ph.D. for part 2 of their conversation about medical malpractice litigation from Paul's unique perspective as a Physician, Attorney, Mediator, and Arbitrator. Paul talks about his role as a mediator, shares his philosophy on managing mediations, and how he approaches different mediation scenarios. Paul gives examples of two types of mediations: facilitative and evaluative. Steve and Paul also talk about anchoring in mediation and the power of the "middle number." Lastly, Paul shares his recommendations and suggestions to attorneys to best prepare for mediation.

Paul Molinaro, M.D., J.D., who is a Physician, Attorney, Mediator, Arbitrator and founder of MD JD Dispute Resolution, joins Steve Wood, Ph.D. to share his background on his many roles and experience with medical malpractice cases. Paul and Steve discuss the standard of care, how Paul evaluates the cases that he is approached to work on, how patients and jurors judge physicians, how they perceive the standard of care and the expertise of physicians, and the role of expert witnesses in med mal cases. They also talk about the business of medicine and how that can impact patient care. Steve and Paul dive into the reactions and concerns they deal with when physicians get sued and what has changed in medical malpractice litigation over the past 20 years, particularly with the advent of AI.

Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D. defines and describes the cognitive gap and why witnesses must protect this gap during testimony. Bill shares the brain science behind cognitive fatigue when maximizing cognition in a deposition and how a witness must be trained - not just told - how to practice and protect the cognitive gap. The training process requires teaching and practice in order to master the skills required to be successful during testimony, especially since opposing counsel's goal will be to get the witness to go faster and reduce the cognitive gap. The challenge for the witness is that the cognitive gap is uncomfortable so the witness must be neurocognitively trained to embrace the discomfort as that is the key to achieving a positive outcome in the deposition.

CSI Litigation Consultant Sarah Burton, Ph.D. joins Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D. to talk about training witnesses to prepare them for testimony. Sarah shares how she approaches getting to know witnesses before the training formally begins to help put them at ease and to evaluate their mental and emotional state.

Bill and Sarah discuss how challenging it is for witness's brains to be concise when they are so used to explaining and giving details in day-to-day life, and how they help witnesses understand the importance of brevity. They also describe how they go about giving feedback to a witness during the training, how they handle Reptile/Edge Theory questions, and the differences between training a fact witness vs. a corporate representative.

Bill and Sarah talk about how they train witnesses to accept bad facts and why witnesses have to avoid pivoting. Lastly, they explain the importance of simulating the actual deposition experience to ensure that the witness is fully prepared for manipulative tactics or other psychological tricks that the questioner may use.

Alexander Green, Partner with Lewis Brisbois, joins Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D. to discuss young attorney development and mentoring. Alexander shares his thoughts on what attorney mentorship looks like and how leaders can facilitate development opportunities for early career attorneys within their firms. Alexander also talks about how his career has benefited from having mentors, how he balances being mentored and mentoring others, and what mentees should consider when deciding who to approach for mentorship.