In today’s episode, Rafe takes the opportunity to interview Tim Baker as he anticipates being a juror. Rafe walks Tim through the basics of being a juror, what to expect, and how to prepare.

As a leading Spokane, Washington Attorney, Karen Lindholdt has been a successful advocate for the injured and wrongfully accused for the past 27 years. TLC graduate Karen Lindholdt discusses the experience of being a woman representing men accused of sexual assault. Karen discusses the TLC methods that helped her and the difficulties that come with her client's sexual assault charges. 

“It’s integrity. If you don’t have integrity in your thoughts, it’s going to show. You’re going to come across as fake, and nobody wants to be associated with that.”

Victoria Rusk, a mitigation specialist and investigator from Houston, TX, credits the Trial Lawyers College’s In Defense of the Damned program with giving her the tools that enhance her civil case preparation and her strategy for consulting criminal defense attorneys. She helps clients understand what mitigation is and how the discovery and presentation of their background is critical to saving their life. 

The TLC method teaches that if the jury perceives that an attorney is disconnected from or embarrassed about their client, the jury could adopt that bias and judge the client harshly. Drawing from this, Rusk feels that assessing the case and witnesses help a lawyer better understand their clients’ background. 

When attorneys genuinely empathize with their clients, they can present their client’s mitigation story in a compelling way that helps jurors to overcome the feelings of anger stirred up by the prosecutor. Trial Lawyers College teaches lawyers to identify universal themes to be those many people can relate to, such as parenthood or significant loss.

“As a mitigation specialist, we meet people where they are.”

“It is the idea of just being yourself and connecting and being genuine and not just pretending to be genuine but being actually genuine...see how that actually works.”

This fall, former prosecutor Adam Murray enjoyed training at the Trial Lawyers College intensive five-day course in Shambhala, Colorado. Although he is not yet a TLC graduate, he describes his time at the TLC as a “life-changing experience.” After leaving the seminar, he determined that the tools provided an entirely different perspective that would benefit all aspects of trial preparation, beginning with Voir Dire. 

“How can I be empowered to make sure that my client can get their story before the jury so that the right result happens?”

Being able to authentically connect with the jurors from the beginning of the process helps attorneys avoid seeming adversarial. It allows lawyers to work collaboratively with the jury and to practice the law while retaining their humanity.

Murray has since added a psychodrama room onto his office space for helping clients prepare for trial, so they would be better able to live out the critical moment on the stand. As they express their feelings regarding the experience, jurors can identify with the victim and their loss.

“Lawyers get bogged down in minutiae and facts. The facts are important. The facts are the latticework upon which you hang the flesh of your case, and the flesh of your case is going to be the principles, the values, the emotion, the feelings, the betrayal; those types of things are what make a case relatable to a jury.”

This week, Kenny Adair, former district judge and 2007 graduate of the Trial Lawyer College (TLC), attributes his success to TLC. When he left the program, he felt better equipped to discover and understand his clients’ stories and tell them in a way that the jury would embrace. Through the use of reenactments, among other methods, he can discover the backstory and connect personally and emotionally to each case.

Adair tells the essential story during voir dire, during the opening statement, when questioning the clients and witnesses, and during the closing argument. He identifies the hero or would-be hero and the villain, the liable party. He shows the villain’s betrayal and is ready to capitalize on the defense counsel’s trial behavior that compounds the original harm to the client.

“You’ve got to understand who your audience is really is. What are the morals of your jury? Once you understand their morals and whether they’re liberal or conservative, and you tailor your opening statement towards that, you’re well on your way to getting the verdict that you want.”

In this episode of the TLC Podcast, host Rafe Foreman meets with Kentucky-based trial lawyer Frank Mungo to discuss his unique approach to storytelling to resonate with the judge and jury in a variety of criminal cases. Guiding listeners through the details of some of his most successful trials, Frank provides an insightful look at the personal values and political biases that can influence judges’ and jurors’ connections with our clients and the ultimate outcome of a case. 

“If the cancer is a wake-up call to spend the rest of my life—however long I have—to live a life with more quality and being more genuine, I’m not thinking that’s too unfair.” 

This episode of the TLC Podcast features Laurie Goodman, the beloved executive director of the Trial Lawyers College, who speaks with host Rafe Foreman about her April 2021 diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer. As she shares the insights she’s discovered about herself in the wake of her ongoing health struggles, Laurie offers a critical reminder of the value of accepting one’s life path, surrendering control, and making today the very best it can be.

“We are in a different mindset than our clients are. Even that is a barrier because, at that point, we don’t see the context where our client comes from.” 

This week’s TLC podcast features trial lawyer Pat Montes, who offers a thought-provoking look at how language and culture impact a lawyer’s relationships with their clients. Bringing to the table her unique perspective as a bilingual and bicultural attorney, Pat stresses the importance of working with clients in their native language rather than forcing them to struggle to convey their authentic story in English. 

As Pat and host Rafe Foreman continue their discussion, they raise a new set of questions: How can a client relate to their lawyer when they come from entirely different backgrounds? And how can a lawyer discover their client’s story when their cultural differences, despite both speaking English, effectively mean they’re speaking different languages?

The answers to these questions and more are explored in-depth in this engaging podcast episode. Listen along as Pat and Rafe provide necessary insight into connecting with a diverse set of clients and ensuring equal justice for all.