On this episode of the Trial Lawyers College podcast, Andy Delaney and Amanda Harber sit down with sentencing advocacy expert Cyndy Short to explore mitigation as storytelling. Cyndy explains how to build persuasive sentencing narratives, shares concrete courtroom techniques (role-reversal, setting the scene, humanizing clients), and offers practical tips for advocates handling high-stakes capital and non-capital matters. A must-listen for trial lawyers who want to make sentencing advocacy more humane, strategic, and effective.

Francisco Duarte sits down with Rick Sterger and Melissa Sandoval to unpack a powerful immigration win: how a young migrant who crossed the Darien Gap was detained, and how careful advocacy, TLC methods, and strategic litigation secured his freedom. A clear, humane look at immigration practice, professional courage, and why lawyers matter.

Ron Estefan sits down with Matt Lathrop to explore Trial Lawyers College's The Courage to Ask—how curiosity, vulnerability, and better questions transform trial lawyering. Hear why asking (not performing) helps lawyers connect with juries, shape verdicts, and regain confidence.

Ron Estefan hosts Rafe Foreman for a candid conversation about what actually matters in the courtroom: presence, authenticity, and story. Board & faculty leaders unpack the Trial Skills Foundation week — what happens in the classroom, why it changes how lawyers try cases, and what attendees take home that actually moves juries.

Rafe Foreman talks with TLC Board & Faculty Leader Ron Estefan about the Trial Skills Foundation (March 1–6, Moe Ranch, Hunt, TX): a six-day, multi-skill, lab-style TLC program for civil and criminal defense lawyers — openings, directs, cross, psychodrama, case consult energy, and real-world skill building.

Rafe Foreman chats with TLC faculty leaders Paula Elliott Estefan and Render C. Freeman about Do No Harm — a focused, limited-enrollment Trial Lawyers College program (Jan 19–22) at the Peery Hotel in Salt Lake City. This is a laboratory-style CLE for lawyers who want real practice on real cases: depositions, cross-examination, role-play, psychodrama, and tactical troubleshooting with faculty and peers.

Cyndy Short and Laura O'Sullivan—longtime TLC faculty and alumnae—walk through the Women Who Win program (Feb 18–22, Vanderbilt), psychodrama for openings, motherhood + practice, and how women can use authenticity and storytelling as courtroom strengths.

Former public defender turned employment litigator Babak Semnar explains how Trial Lawyers College methods—psychodrama, role reversal, and emotional connection—made him a better, more authentic trial lawyer. From sexual-harassment and age-discrimination trials to long depositions and jury work, Babak shows how "being real" wins jurors' hearts and verdicts.

Eric Davis (Houston criminal lawyer, TLC Board member) joins Rafe to tackle a brutal—but common—trial problem: what to do when your case includes facts that will make jurors shut down. Drawing on years of bad-case experience and Trial Lawyers College methods, Eric walks through practical strategies for voir dire and trial planning when you must confront extraneous offenses, on-video conduct, DNA, or other explosive evidence.

Rafe Foreman sits down with faculty member Mike Smith to unpack why Trial Lawyers College programs — from the three-week flagship to weekend workshops — are game changers for trial lawyers. They talk psychodrama's power to unlock the emotional core of a case, the collaborative moment that produced the "above/below the line" framework for med-mal trials, and practical voir-dire tactics borrowed from criminal practice. If you want to deepen juror connection, vet your ideas with fellow lawyers, and leave with trial tools you'll actually use, this episode explains why you should join the next TLC program.