Mike Karp was always inspired by the winning trial lawyers he met at Trial Lawyers University. It didn’t take him long to join their ranks. He’s tried four cases to verdict and was named “Outstanding Young Trial Lawyer” by the plaintiff’s bar in Wisconsin in 2024.

“It’s nice to win awards, and it's nice to get big verdicts, but I'm proud of just making progress every day and being a better trial lawyer,” Mike tells host Dan Ambrose. Tune in for a look back at Mike’s fast-tracked career and ahead at his April trial on behalf of an injured motorcyclist. For those attending TLU Beach this June, Mike will teach case framing and premises cases.

☑️ Mike Karp | LinkedIn | Instagram

☑️ Trial Lawyers of Wisconsin | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook

☑️ TLU Beach

☑️ 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 | YouTube

• After a four-hour mediation where the Wisconsin couple argued about fishing poles and bait, Mike pivoted away from family law and to personal injury.
• For Mike, attending TLU in 2021 “opened up my mind to a whole new universe of how to approach being a lawyer.”
• Mike describes his four trials, starting with the first that he tried shortly after attending TLU. State Farm offered nothing to his injured client. The jury awarded $160,000.
• When a city garbage truck crashed into a woman’s first-floor apartment, Mike thought he’d solve the matter quickly with a call to the city attorney. In fact, litigation dragged on for a year and a half. He won a jury verdict of $50,000.
• For a client who suffered a mild traumatic brain injury after a car accident, Mike won a jury award of $1.5 million for past pain and suffering and $2 million for future pain and suffering.
• For six years, Mike worked on a slip-and-fall case on behalf of an elderly client who had a history of slip-and-fall injuries. The jury deliberated for 45 minutes and returned with a $12 million verdict.
• In April, Mike will represent a motorcyclist who suffered injuries after hitting a pothole that had existed for some time. 

Produced and Powered by LawPods

Dan Ambrose invites a Michigan colleague to discuss lessons learned from the TLU suite of programs and his upcoming TLU case analysis. Jason Waechter, known as the “Motorcycle Lawyer,” won $27 million on behalf of a motorcyclist whose leg was amputated below the knee after being hit by a distracted driver. Jason outlines the challenges he faced, including that his client had smoked pot while riding the cycle, as well as strategies that he leveraged from TLU during the case. On March 19, he’ll break it all down for a TLU webinar. Register here.

☑️ Jason Waechter I LinkedIn I Instagram I Facebook

☑️ Law Offices of Jason A. Waechter I LinkedIn I Instagram I Facebook I YouTube

☑️ TLU Beach

☑️ 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 | YouTube

• Jason practices the martial art of jiu-jitsu because it inspires him to think one step ahead of his opponent – much like trial.
• Opening day for the Detroit Tigers and 60 days before he officially became a lawyer, Jason tried a case in federal bankruptcy court. He lost but recovered and moved on.
• In 2016, Jason attended the Trojan Horse seminar, a precursor to Dan’s TLU Bootcamp series. He still remembers the skilled lawyers sharing their knowledge. He also remembers, for the first time, watching videotapes of his own presentations, which revealed that he spoke too quickly and had “alligator” arms.
• In 2022, Jason represented a motorcyclist who was left an amputee after being struck by a distracted driver. Battling a big firm that initially offered $5 million, Jason leveraged big data to show the true value of the case.
• Jason deviated from the “10 Commandments” of cross-examination, which allowed him to get a defense expert to agree to his client’s non-economic damages. He ultimately won a $27 million verdict.
• In voir dire for that case, Jason borrowed from renowned personal injury lawyer Brian Panish, who teaches the eight key questions that plaintiffs’ lawyers should ask jurors in a short timeframe.
• Jason has his new associate study TLU On Demand educational webinars and report back on how he will apply the skills on a case.

Produced and Powered by LawPods

From sunny Cabo San Lucas, host Dan Ambrose and Ryan Skiver of Skiver Bradley Law Firm encourage trial lawyers to take advantage of learning opportunities available in 2025. “It's the greatest time in the world to be a trial lawyer. Everything is here for you. All the skills. You can learn it,” Dan says.

A frequent participant in the TLU suite of educational courses, Ryan encourages lawyers to take advantage of programs like TLU On Demand. “One of the things that I've kind of always done is set aside time for learning,” Ryan says. One place for lawyers to learn this year is Huntington Beach at TLU Beach, scheduled for June 4-7.

If you’re a trial lawyer in Phoenix, and you’d like to work with Ryan on perfecting your presentation skills, contact him by phone or email.

☑️ Ryan Skiver I LinkedIn

☑️ Skiver Bradley Law Firm | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube

☑️ TLU Beach

☑️ 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 | YouTube

• Grandma told him he’d be either a lawyer or actor: Ryan’s path includes acting as an extra and earning a law degree.
• How “The Reptile,” by Don Keenan and David Ball, influenced Ryan as a personal injury lawyer.
• Ryan’s participation at a “Welcome to the Revolution” deposition seminar led him to a partnership with Don Keenan.
• An early trucking case taught Ryan that trucking crashes are not the same as car accidents.
• Dan explains why it’s important for lawyers to learn acting skills: The greatest skill of a trial lawyer is to transport the audience, and “you can't transport somebody else until you can transport yourself.”
• Ryan discusses key takeaways from TLU Skills Bootcamp in November, including the art of making eye contact with the jury.
• Borrowing from trial lawyer and former boxer Przemek Lubecki, Dan outlines the three “spheres of performance”: the conscious mind, the unconscious mind, and confidence.
• What a course on psychodrama taught Ryan about role-reversal and listening skills.
• Why Ryan swears by the skills he learns from TLU On Demand.

Produced and Powered by LawPods

On a recent Saturday in October, Frank Fratello of Farah & Farah took the red-eye from TLU Vegas back to Jacksonville, Florida. On Monday, jury selection began in his pain management trial. On Thursday, the jury returned a $2.12 million verdict for his client. Tune in as Frank tells Dan Ambrose, TLU Vegas founder and show host, how lessons from instructors such as jury consultant Sari de la Motte, trial consultant Jesse Wilson, and leading PI trial lawyer Ben Rabinowitz helped drive his victory.

Check out these upcoming opportunities in the TLU portfolio: November 28, case analysis of Frank Fratello’s $2.12 million jury verdict; December 4-7, Dave Clark’s “Dark Arts Trial Craft” bootcamp; March 5-8, 2025, Joe Fried’s four-day bootcamp on trucking cases; April 1-5, 2025, Sach Oliver’s depositions bootcamp; October 29-November 1, 2025, TLU Vegas.

☑️ Frank Fratello I Instagram 

☑️ Farah & Farah I LinkedIn I Facebook I Instagram I X I YouTube

☑️ Trial Lawyers University

☑️ Missed the October 2024 TLU Vegas? Check out TLU On Demand for access to the nine lecture tracks as well as more than 385 webinars with pleadings, transcripts, and PowerPoints from analyzed cases.

☑️ TLU on X | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

☑️ Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

• Out of the Gate: As a second year, Frank attended a trial and wrote the response to the defendant's new trial motion after the verdict; the judge agreed with his arguments.
• First Five: After law school, Frank’s first job was searching a database for plaintiffs who would have cases in the Engle class action tobacco litigation.  
• “Invaluable” Experience: For 16 months, Frank worked for an insurance defense firm, where he learned how “the other side saw cases.”
• TLU Bootcamp: Frank took two key takeaways from attending the TLU Bootcamp in 2022: “Practice makes perfect” and “Trial was a lot more about connecting than anything I had thought about before.”
• “Crazy Decision”: Why attend TLU Vegas immediately before a jury trial? Frank told his boss: “I’m going to use this stuff. Nothing risked, nothing gained.”
• Conveying Constant Pain: The big issue in Franks’ rear-end collision case was conveying that his client, while appearing “100 percent,” was actually living in constant pain.
• Lessons in Jury Selection: Just days after TLU Vegas, Frank used strategies from Sari de la Motte’s workshop to help pick his jury..
• Victim-to-Victor: Frank leveraged Jesse Wilson’s “Victim-to-Victor” approach to frame his case, and it resonated with the jury.

Produced and Powered by LawPods

Host Dan Ambrose invites David Sugden of Call & Jensen for a discussion about the importance of constant practice and learning for trial lawyers. David highlights his video series, which provides training on skills like evidence and depositions. His mission with the series is to help lawyers become competent with the rules “so that when they go into court, they have that comfortability, which then the byproduct can be confidence.”

David and Dan share thoughts on the value of programs like Trial Lawyers University in refining trial skills. They also preview this month’s TLU Vegas, where experienced trial lawyers including David will share knowledge, collaborate, and guide participants in enhancing their courtroom performance.

☑️ David Sugden I LinkedIn

☑️ Call & Jensen I LinkedIn I Facebook I X

☑️ TLU Vegas

☑️ 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 | YouTube

• What trial lawyers can learn from David’s series of training videos
• A preview of David’s workshops at TLU Vegas: navigating hearsay and laying a foundation
• Lawyers and athletes: A college baseball player, David reflects on the similarities between both pursuits
• Why David suggests that mock trials should be set in a real courtroom environment
• The important lessons offered by the TLU educational program
• David’s $6 million verdict on behalf of a real estate auction company against a defendant who fraudulently manipulated bids

Produced and Powered by LawPods

Darryl Isaacs of Isaacs & Isaacs Personal Injury Lawyers joins host Dan Ambrose for a conversation about building a legal practice, emphasizing the importance of hiring and branding. He traces his ventures into marketing, from buying phone book covers and billboards to appearing on television and TikTok. At his month’s TLU Vegas, Darryl will teach the basics of building business and strategies for effective marketing and branding.

Want a complimentary access code to TLU on Demand? Email Dan.

☑️ Darryl Isaacs I LinkedIn I Instagram I Facebook I X

☑️ Isaacs & Isaacs Personal Injury Lawyers I LinkedIn I Instagram I Facebook I X I YouTube

☑️ TLU Vegas

☑️ 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 | YouTube

• Didn’t love criminal law, loved being in the courtroom: Darryl’s entré into law
• How Darryl applied a Supreme Court ruling that allowed lawyers to write to accident victims
• Why Darryl embraced marketing efforts – billboards, television, the back covers of phone books
• How Darryl formed his “mastermind” group 
• The $2 million replica of a courtroom that Darryl built and uses for focus groups
• What participants at Darryl’s TLU Vegas masterclasses can expect

Produced and Powered by LawPods

PI trial attorney and consultant Phillip Miller joins host Dan Ambrose to cover a wide range of topics about trial strategy. From learning microexpressions to metaphor interviews to connecting with jurors, Phillip encourages lawyers in all stages of their careers to continue their education. One place to do just that is at the upcoming TLU Vegas, which Dan founded. There, Phillip and trial attorney Sach Oliver will break down their recent success. In their wrongful death case, a Kroger tractor trailer driver fatally struck a fireman who was assisting at the scene of a wreck. Tune in to learn how Phillip and the team dismantled Kroger’s defenses, including that the crash was unavoidable. The jury awarded $140 million.

☑️ Phillip Miller I LinkedIn

☑️ Miller Law Offices I Facebook

☑️ TLU Vegas

☑️ 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 | YouTube

• Phillip’s career path started with enrolling in law school after dealing with his father’s estate
• His first PI case: Not a good one … but he made the most of it and got a $25,000 verdict
• At TLU Vegas, Phillip will teach a masterclass on depositions, including his “Miller Mousetrap” strategy.
• Phillip’s methodology as a trial consultant starts with asking “dumb questions that will make your case better”
• Phillip and Dan role play a cross-examination, focusing on strategies like asking one new fact per question and defining terms
• At TLU Vegas, Phillip will also join trial attorney Sach Oliver to present about their recent wrongful death case that ended in a $140 million verdict against Kroger
• How the team established that the Kroger driver who struck and killed a fireman who was assisting at an accident scene should have avoided the crash
• What happened after Kroger’s insurance representatives reneged on a $20 million settlement offer
• How Phillip and Sach used focus groups for trial
• A preview of all the learning opportunities at TLU Vegas

Produced and Powered by LawPods

In a wide-ranging interview, host Dan Ambrose talks about TLU Vegas  with one of the conference’s featured speakers, guest Nick Rowley of The Rowley Law Firm. Nick touches on the importance of rising early — particularly on trial days — exercising, learning from mentors, and getting to know clients well to humanize them for juries. He also talks about Justice Watch, an organization that he is developing. Still in its inception, Justice Watch will open chapters in each state to lobby for laws important to lawyers, lodge complaints about bad judges, and promote good judges. Dan and Nick also discuss presentations at TLU Vegas and their importance to both new and seasoned lawyers. Dan encourages law students who can’t afford the conference to visit TLU Vegas and submit a scholarship application.

☑️ Nick Rowley I LinkedIn I Instagram I Facebook

☑️ Trial Lawyers for Justice I Rowley Law Firm I Jordan Law I Trial By Human

☑️ TLU Vegas

☑️ 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 | YouTube

• Nick’s morning routine: wake early, cold shower, exercise, read, eat protein breakfast.
• Seek out many mentors to learn different styles and philosophies.
• Nick’s key task when helping other lawyers: Get to know the clients and their families.
• Nick’s Justice Watch will work to keep a bad judge off the Montana Supreme Court and serve to counterbalance an insurance industry group called Judicial Watch.
• Words matter: Don’t demand settlements; offer an opportunity to settle a case.
• There will be a booth at TLU Vegas where attendees can learn about Innoceana, Nick’s charity that promotes global marine conservation.
• Nick is co-authoring a book “debunking nuclear verdicts” and will present on it at TLU Vegas.

Produced and Powered by LawPods

Alicia Campbell, co-author of JuryBall, joins host Dan Ambrose to discuss the genesis of that landmark publication and her work helping lawyers leverage big data. She also shares another important project: the nonprofit that she and her husband, John, established to fund academic research on legal issues and provide data-driven insights for plaintiffs’ lawyers. Called the Justice Through Empirical Data Institute (or JEDI), the organization aims to provide answers to questions like whether tort reform caps work and whether it’s a problem for plaintiffs if their lawyer can’t make a non-specific, non-economic damage request. Alicia also previews her presentation at the upcoming TLU Vegas, where she’ll provide a high-level overview of JuryBall and data.

Law school students who are interested in a scholarship to attend TLU Vegas should email Dan for information.

☑️ Alicia Campbell | LinkedIn | Email

☑️ Campbell Law 

☑️ JuryBall

☑️ TLU Vegas

☑️ 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 | YouTube

• Alicia’s career, starting as a teacher in the inner-city of San Antonio
• Ten years and more than 850 case studies
• How Alicia’s frustration with the federal mediation system spurred her early foray into data
• How predicting a case’s value has evolved over the past 10 years
• Sean Claggett’s role in shaping JuryBall
• A preview of Alicia’s presentation at TLU Vegas
• The process of conducting a big data study
• Campbell Law’s experience with high-profile excessive force cases
• The nonprofit that Alicia started with her husband, John: The Justice Through Empirical Data Institute, or JEDI

Produced and Powered by LawPods

Spencer Lucas learned three important lessons from legendary personal injury lawyer Brian Panish: preparation, aggressiveness, and authenticity. A partner at the firm Brian co-founded, Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP, Spencer put those lessons to work, with Brian, to secure $135 million for two survivors of childhood sexual abuse. 

Listen in as Spencer breaks down the case against the Moreno Valley Unified School District for host Dan Ambrose. In addition to describing hurdles that the team overcame, Spencer discusses spearheading the firm’s efforts to find justice for sexual abuse survivors in the wake of California’s Assembly Bill 218, which gives survivors the right to file claims that were otherwise time-barred. As Spencer explains, it’s less about the monetary results and more about shining a light on institutions that covered up abuse. “It’s been incredibly satisfying for me as a lawyer to be a part of this awareness,” he says.

At TLU Vegas, Spencer will lead a workshop about navigating sexual abuse cases, sharing insight on strategic considerations for discovery, depositions, witnesses, and more.

☑️ Spencer Lucas | LinkedIn | Email

☑️ Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP | LinkedIn | Instagram | X | Facebook

☑️ TLU VEGAS

☑️ 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 | YouTube

• Spencer’s hometown: Port Orchard, Washington. No port, no orchard, but a lovely place to grow up
• His pedigree: great-grandparents who were immigrants and practiced law to help their community
• Why he turned to accident law after meeting an injured accountant at H&R Block during law school
• The story of meeting legal giant Brian Panish began with talking football
• How he spearheaded his firm’s efforts to pursue justice for sexual abuse survivors after California’s Assembly Bill 218
• A preview of Spencer’s workshop at TLU Vegas: case-framing sex abuse cases
• Background of Spencer’s victory in Brady Blair and Justin McGregor versus the Moreno Valley Unified School District
• How a focus group helped Spencer frame the case
• The defense’s data dump that produced the smoking gun
• What the notebook that the retired principal tossed away on the stand revealed

Produced and Powered by LawPods