What happens when a patent attorney who grew up swinging a hammer on construction sites, tried seven IP jury trials covering everything from reusable coffee cartridges to cherry cultivar genetics, argued before both the Federal Circuit and the Ninth Circuit, and now plays bass in a Seattle indie rock band decides to explain the single most deadly mistake startup founders make before they ever call a lawyer?

In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with Tim Billick, partner at Practus LLP, about why disclosing your invention before filing — even just telling a friend under no NDA — can gift your idea to the public domain permanently and there is absolutely nothing an attorney can do about it afterward. Tim explains the difference between patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets in plain English, why getting a patent is only the beginning and defending it is where most founders have no plan, and why the 90% prep, 10% execution rule he learned from his brother building high-rises in Chicago applies just as much to trying a jury trial as it does to pouring concrete.

They also discuss the Echo Brands reusable coffee cartridge case where both sides accused each other of infringement, Tim's team won the verdict and got the competitor's patent completely invalidated, the bizarre plant patent dispute where Washington state cherry orchardists were sued by the Canadian government over genetic data on late-blooming cherry varietals, why storytelling matters more than facts when you're presenting to a jury of strangers, and how a 90-minute search report that costs a couple thousand dollars can save you from spending 18 months and $20,000 on a patent that was never going to survive.

Tim Billick is a partner at Practus LLP in Seattle, handling patent prosecution and IP litigation for startups and creators in software, mechanical, construction, and FinTech.

Connect with Tim Billick:

practus.com

Seattle, Washington

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Tim Billick

00:48 Queens of the Stone Age softened up with keyboards — what Thief Motif actually sounds like

01:28 Seven IP jury trials and why nervousness is your friend in the courtroom

02:28 The three buckets every IP client falls into

04:28 Is it unusual to do both transactional and litigation IP work

05:44 How Tim ended up with an atypical career that spans both

06:24 Pacific Northwest clients — Boeing, construction, FinTech, and software

08:05 Why Tim stays away from biotech despite Seattle's deep biotech scene

09:00 Software, mechanical, and construction — how his background informs his practice

11:17 The most common and most deadly mistake founders make before calling a lawyer

12:07 Public disclosure and how patent law is brutally unforgiving about it

14:30 Why the government's position is simply: thanks, you gave it to us

15:34 Once you have the patent, you still have to defend it — how that actually works

17:38 How litigation experience informs how Tim drafts patents in the first place

20:07 The spider web of infringement — making, selling, and indirect liability

22:25 How to make a patent defensible and hard to blow a hole through

23:04 90% planning, 10% execution — the construction adage that runs every case

24:00 Why a patentability search is worth every penny

27:33 When do you need a patent versus a trademark versus a copyright

29:12 Trade secrets — the dark side of the moon explained

32:04 What actually constitutes a trade secret and how you protect it

34:41 The Coca-Cola formula — the perfect trade secret example

35:51 The Echo Brands coffee cartridge trial — how a five-day win came together

38:00 Why you present a story to a jury, not a set of facts

40:24 What was actually happening in that case and why both sides accused each other

43:22 Invalidating a competitor's patent and what that did to his business

45:08 Washington orchardists versus the Canadian government — plant patents and cherry genetics

47:16 Late-blooming cherry varietals, genetic testing, and statistical margin of error

49:39 Getting bumped from the case when the insurer appointed their own counsel

50:33 How to reach Tim Billick

#TimBillick #Practus #PatentLaw #IPLitigation #StartupPatents #TrustcastShow #TradeSecrets #SeattleIP #PatentTrial #IntellectualProperty

What happens when a firm that defended the Hollywood 10 during McCarthyism and pioneered shareholder litigation in 1945 is still in the fight 80 years later — now as lead counsel on the Capital One data breach litigation, with a dismissal rate of 8% against a national average of 46%, recovering hundreds of millions for institutional investors who often don't even know they're entitled to it?

In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with Josh Ruthizer and Adam Savett of Wolf Popper LLP about what portfolio monitoring actually is and why most pension funds still aren't doing it, how the claims filing rate on class action settlements can be in the single digits meaning the people who do file collect a dramatically larger share than they otherwise would, and what the difference is between a stock that tanks because of market risk and one that tanks because somebody was lying. Josh walks through the full lifecycle of a securities class action from initial complaint through lead plaintiff appointment, discovery stay, motion to dismiss, and eventual settlement or trial. Adam explains how he once found a $53 million uncashed recovery for a mutual fund complex that had completely missed the filing.

They also discuss the information asymmetry that makes securities fraud litigation so difficult in the early stages when you only know what's public and the company knows exactly where the bodies are buried, why ERISA plans may have an affirmative obligation to evaluate litigation not just an option, why doing nothing is the worst thing an institutional investor can do after discovering potential fraud, and what Wolf Popper's 8% dismissal rate actually tells you about the front-end work they do before ever filing a complaint.

Josh Ruthizer and Adam Savett are partners at Wolf Popper LLP in New York, a securities litigation and investor rights firm founded in 1945.

Connect with Wolf Popper:

wolfpopper.com

New York, New York

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Josh Ruthizer and Adam Savett

00:55 What's changed in the frauds Wolf Popper fights — and what's stayed the same

02:04 Josh's path from Proskauer Rose to Wolf Popper via a 2009 downsizing

03:56 If I'm a pension fund trustee and I suspect fraud, what do I do first

05:11 What portfolio monitoring is and why most institutional investors aren't doing it

06:50 Elon Musk and the problem with companies that speak in "almost never" language

07:30 How portfolio monitoring turns a stock drop into actionable information for a client

08:43 How you tell the difference between bad luck and actual securities fraud

09:26 What the federal securities laws actually make illegal — material false statements explained

11:01 Revenue recognition, disclosure of truth, and the elements of a securities fraud claim

12:40 The biggest mistake institutional investors make after being defrauded — doing nothing

13:51 Fiduciary duty and the liability risk of ignoring a potential fraud claim

15:17 Why ERISA funds may have an affirmative obligation to evaluate litigation

17:23 How most funds are leaving money on the table in class action settlements

19:45 Uncashed checks, voided distributions, and what happens to the money people don't collect

22:43 Single-digit claims rates and why filing multiplies your recovery

23:36 The full lifecycle of a securities class action — complaint to settlement

25:30 Lead plaintiff appointment, amended complaints, and the discovery stay

27:30 The information asymmetry problem — you only know what's public, they know where the bodies are buried

29:23 Motion to dismiss, mediation requirements, and why 99% settle before trial

30:30 Why smaller firms can't always sustain the financial weight of securities litigation

32:26 The Microchip Technology case — what made a $9 million settlement winnable

34:30 The $53 million recovery that almost never happened because the fund missed the filing

36:21 Wolf Popper's 8% dismissal rate versus the 46% national average — what accounts for the gap

39:19 How to reach Wolf Popper

#WolfPopper #SecuritiesLitigation #JoshRuthizer #AdamSavett #ClassAction #InvestorRights #TrustcastShow #PortfolioMonitoring #SecuritiesFraud #InstitutionalInvestors

What happens when a woman who grew up in a family of lawyers in Nigeria, graduated top of her class, moved to America at 20 for love, and found herself dropped in the middle of an ocean — no connections, no recognition of her law degree, three babies in diapers, and law school to do all over again — comes out the other side and becomes the fiercest advocate in the room?

In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with Ogor Winnie Okoye, founder of Boss Legal Group in Massachusetts, about the miscarriage, the marriage in crisis, and the rock bottom that led to a transformation she now teaches in workshops every Saturday for free. Ogor explains the zone of the UISA — unbiased introspective self-analysis — and why she believes awakening the divinity within each person is not a one-time event but a daily practice that changes how you show up in every courtroom, every client meeting, and every relationship you have.

They also discuss crimmigration — the intersection of criminal defense and immigration law — how a 42-year-old man named Carlos was being deported to Guatemala despite having lived here since age 12 and meeting every legal requirement, the nurse who lied about a healthcare worker slapping an elderly patient and watched her story fall apart in 20 minutes on the stand, and why Ogor goes to jail so often that she recognizes just how many innocent people are sitting there waiting for someone to fight for them the way she will.

Ogor Winnie Okoye is the founder of Boss Legal Group in Lynn, Massachusetts, licensed in Massachusetts and New York. She practices criminal defense, immigration, crimmigration, estate planning, and family law. Her book is Awakening and Unleashing Your Victor. Her free Saturday life planning workshops are open to the public.

Connect with Ogor Winnie Okoye:

boslegals.com

Facebook and LinkedIn: Agor Winnie Okoye

Lynn, Massachusetts

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Ogor Winnie Okoye

00:57 Coming to America at 20 for love and landing in the middle of an ocean

02:19 Her Nigerian law degree didn't transfer — and she had to go back to law school

03:34 Three babies in diapers in law school — and what her family calls her

05:37 Hitting rock bottom in her marriage and what changed

07:23 Winning the jurisprudence award at Suffolk while broken inside

08:23 What awakening actually looks like — the zone of the UISA

10:24 Doing the things that terrified her, starting with trial

11:23 How crimmigration — criminal defense meets immigration law — works

13:42 The 42-year-old man named Carlos who met every requirement and still got deported

15:05 What the 98% success rate reflects — and why the last year and a half has been devastating

17:27 Carlos's story continued — the heartbreak of that day

18:02 Last week's incredible win — the nurse who lied and crumbled on the stand

24:51 How Boss Legal Group works — from bar advocate to private practice

28:02 Free Saturday workshops on life planning and estate planning

32:45 Why a revocable living trust beats a will for most people

39:11 Rapid fire questions — Jollof rice, Celine Dion, and what boo boo calls her

44:09 How to reach Ogor Winnie Okoye

#OgorWinnieOkoye #BossLegalGroup #CrimImmigration #ImmigrationDefense #CriminalDefense #AwakeningYourVictor #MassachusettsLawyer #TrustcastShow #EstatePlanning #ImmigrationLaw

What happens when the first physician ever to serve as America's drug czar — the person who coordinated a $44 billion federal budget across 19 agencies, got naloxone over the counter, and helped cut overdose deaths from a projected 165,000 to 74,000 ahead of schedule — decides his next mission is using artificial intelligence to discover new drugs in weeks instead of decades, starting with a novel compound for opioid addiction itself?

In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with Dr. Rahul Gupta, former White House drug policy director and now chief medical officer at GATC Health, about the AI platform that analyzes 400 trillion data points simultaneously across safety, efficacy, and off-target effects to predict whether a drug molecule will succeed with over 90% accuracy — before companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars and years finding out the hard way. He explains how compound 1021, a novel opioid addiction treatment, was discovered by narrowing 80 brain targets to three in the prefrontal cortex using AI, combining those three assets into one molecule, and publishing the results in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He also explains why Lloyd's of London entered an exclusive contract with GATC to build debt insurance products around their predictions.

They also discuss why every failed drug is really just a drug waiting to succeed for a different disease, how AI can repurpose shelved molecules for conditions like ALS where patients are running out of time, why animal data fails as a proxy for human physiology and how that's driving the push to phase out animal testing in drug development, and what the FDA is now allowing that makes this the most important inflection point in the history of pharmaceutical discovery.

Dr. Rahul Gupta is the former Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and Chief Medical Officer of GATC Health, an AI-powered drug discovery company.

Connect with Dr. Rahul Gupta:

gatchealth.com

GATC Health

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Dr. Rahul Gupta

00:50 Why walk away from a $44 billion federal budget to build drugs with AI

01:12 One American dying every five minutes — the scale of what he inherited at the White House

02:52 West Virginia, the worst opioid crisis in America, and a 40% drop in overdose deaths

04:10 Getting naloxone over the counter and down to $20 a two-pack

06:41 From 165,000 projected deaths to 74,000 — ahead of schedule and under budget

08:49 Where AI is real in drug development and where it's still hype

09:02 Why 90% of discovered drugs fail and never reach market

10:30 The UC Irvine study — 3,000 molecules blinded and tested with over 92% predictive accuracy

12:00 Lloyd's of London entering an exclusive contract around GATC's predictions

14:17 What prevents a competitor from replicating this — the secret sauce

15:45 Why human data instead of animal data is the core differentiator

17:00 What happens when a phase two readout goes badly — can AI save the asset

18:35 Turning accidental drug discoveries into intentional ones at scale

19:00 The coming revolution in drug approval and regulatory frameworks

21:07 Why animal science fails to translate into human physiology and what NAMS means

23:03 FDA and EMA joint guidance on AI in drug development

23:59 If you have $10 million and one shot — how AI fits into your development plan

25:34 How a pharma company would actually work with GATC Health

27:49 How much of your team's time does this actually require

30:01 What happens in the first three weeks after handing GATC a molecule

31:30 Compound 1021 — how an AI-discovered opioid addiction treatment was born

33:16 What 400 trillion data points actually means in plain English

34:44 Running safety, efficacy, and off-target effects simultaneously

#RahulGupta #GATCHealth #AIDrugDiscovery #OpioidCrisis #DrugCzar #Naloxone #TrustcastShow #BiotechAI #DrugDevelopment #Compound1021

What happens when a Florida personal injury attorney with a last name that even judges get wrong after ten years recovers over $100 million for clients, discovers an insurance company's formula for systematically underpaying thousands of PIP claims, wins $4 million back for his medical provider clients, and then pivots to one of the newest frontiers in law — helping people recover stolen cryptocurrency from cases worth six to eight million dollars?

In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with Alex Licznerski, founder of Licznerski Law in the Tampa Bay area, about the Wells Fargo case where a pregnant woman and her mother were wrongfully evicted the day before Hurricane Irma hit despite being completely current on their mortgage, why the insurance company's "we'll take care of everything" call is one of the most dangerous phone calls an injured person can take, and what the Florida PIP 14-day rule actually is and how many people lose their case before they even know the clock started. Alex also explains the 2023 tort reform that changed Florida from a contributory negligence state where 75% at fault could still recover something to one where 51% at fault means you get zero.

They also discuss the woman who filed her own lawsuit using ChatGPT, lost the case, and ended up owing $50,000 in the other side's attorney fees, how he identifies insurance companies acting in bad faith using the Civil Remedy Notice, why every trial is the equivalent of flipping a coin, Florida's new super speeder law that puts you in handcuffs for going over 100 mph, and why his license plate just says SETTLED.

Alex Licznerski is the founder of Licznerski Law in the Tampa Bay area, handling personal injury, insurance disputes, PIP claims for medical providers, cryptocurrency litigation, consumer law, and criminal defense.

Connect with Alex Licznerski:

aliznerskilaw.com

Phone: 813-406-0782

Tampa Bay, Florida

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Alex Licznerski — yes, even judges get it wrong after ten years

01:37 The Wells Fargo case — wrongfully evicting a pregnant woman the day before Hurricane Irma

04:43 How a corporation worth billions bullies people until they get an attorney

06:20 First thing to do after a car accident in Florida — and why you wait four hours for a police report

08:01 Why you send a letter of representation so clients never have to talk to insurers again

09:14 The Florida 14-day PIP rule explained — and what $10,000 in 1976 looks like today

11:23 Why not treating right away destroys your case even before it starts

13:48 What the insurance adjuster is actually doing on that helpful phone call

15:34 The three biggest mistakes people make in the first 48 hours after a crash

17:55 Medical bills stacking up, claim denied — what options do you actually have

20:10 How to know if you have a good case or no case at all

21:18 The 2023 tort reform — 51% at fault means zero recovery

22:32 When to stop handling it yourself and call a lawyer — the ChatGPT lawsuit story

24:42 Free consultations and why every attorney knows within minutes

26:56 From first call to settlement — the Cliff's Notes version of how a case moves

28:01 What insurance companies do during depositions and what your attorney does about it

33:00 Going to mediation versus going to trial — why every trial is a coin flip

34:24 Bad faith insurance claims in Florida and the Civil Remedy Notice

38:07 Rapid fire — Tampa Bay beaches, Burnt Steakhouse, and the 14-day rule

40:01 The $4 million recovery from 3,000 underpaid PIP claims against one insurance company

42:05 The Nexo cryptocurrency case — $6 million in stolen crypto

43:54 What it feels like to send the email that just says settled

46:25 Florida's new super speeder law — over 100 mph goes straight to jail

47:39 How to reach Alex Licznerski

#AlexLicznerski #LicznerskiLaw #FloridaPersonalInjury #PIPInsurance #TampaBayLawyer #TrustcastShow #CarAccidentFlorida #CryptocurrencyLaw #BadFaithInsurance #TortReform

What happens when you inherit a sixty-year-old personal injury firm from a man who ran 760 marathons and practiced law until he was 87, and then have to figure out in real time what it means to be a sole owner, a community partner, a mock trial coach, a foster dog dad, and a lawyer who still does his own client intakes because he thinks that's how you actually win cases?

In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with Dan Petrosky, owner of DeFranzo Petrosky in Waterbury, Connecticut, about the baseball mindset that keeps him even-keeled through the grind of personal injury work, how he settled 525 cases in six years including 12 jury trials, and what it actually takes to win $390,000 for two rear-end clients whose cars looked almost undamaged in the photos. Dan explains why modern car engineering absorbs so much force that a low-speed crash can still destroy a body, how his mentor Gene DeFranzo's one piece of advice — always be honest, never cut a corner — still plays in his head every day, and why he wants people in Waterbury to think of him as the guy who sponsors kids' sports leagues and gives out college scholarships before they think of him as the lawyer.

They also discuss what it was like to watch Gene run marathons into his 80s when the pandemic finally ended his streak at number 760, why Dan left the firm and then came back because it felt like coming home, what founding a mock trial team at his kids' middle school taught him about 12-year-olds in the courtroom, and the one thing insurance companies are hoping clients never find out about hiring an attorney.

Dan Petrosky is the owner of DeFranzo Petrosky in Waterbury, Connecticut, a personal injury and premises liability firm founded in 1961.

Connect with Dan Petrosky:

defranzolawfirm.com

Phone: 203-756-7408

Waterbury, Connecticut

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Dan Petrosky

00:51 Larry Bird's career double-double average and why he's the greatest

01:53 All-state basketball and tennis in high school, four years of college ball at Colby

02:27 The baseball mindset — never get too high, never get too low, even a productive out matters

03:43 Gene DeFranzo — founding a firm in 1961, practicing until 87, running 760 marathons

04:34 Starting there as an associate in 2013, leaving in 2019, and coming back as partner in 2021

06:32 Gene passes in 2023 at 87 — going from partner to sole owner

07:20 525 cases in six years and 12 jury trials — what a typical week looks like

09:00 106 settlements in 2024 and growing the business without losing the personal touch

10:42 $390,000 for two rear-end clients with almost no visible damage — how that case was won

12:21 Practice areas — car accidents, premises liability, slip and falls, dog bites, pedestrians, bicyclists

13:14 Rapid fire — You're gonna need a bigger boat, Tom Brunansky's catch, and a German Shepherd named Lucy

16:04 Riviera Memorial Foundation — supporting Waterbury kids with tutoring, sports, and $15,000 in scholarships

16:37 Founding a middle school mock trial team that made the state playoffs

17:42 Coaching youth sports, fostering rescue dogs, and why community investment is the job

18:52 Why personal injury lawyers have a bad reputation and what he does differently

19:42 Opening a second office in his hometown and where the firm is going in five years

20:22 What Gene would say if he could see the firm now

20:49 How to reach DeFranzo Petrosky

#DanPetrosky #DeFranzoPetrosky #PersonalInjuryLaw #Waterbury #TrustcastShow #Connecticut #AutoAccident #GeneDefranco #CommunityLawyer #MockTrial

What happens when a self-described introvert who went to law school to become a sports agent, spent years doing deportation defense and family law at a large firm that grew too fast, walks away mid-career with two partners and a grand total of one paralegal to see if they can do it better?

In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with Tim Sutton, co-founding partner of Win Roche Sutton in Maryland, about going from 30 clients to over 150 in under a year, why starting your own firm forces an introvert to become a networker whether they want to or not, and what it means to work backwards from the objective instead of getting buried in the emotion of a case. Tim explains why 99% of family law cases are really about control and money rather than the children, what makes appellate work feel like a box puzzle versus the open puzzle of a trial, and why he once deliberately set up an appeal he knew he was going to lose in order to come back later with an ineffective assistance of counsel argument that actually worked.

They also discuss the difference between watching Paul Clement argue and watching Elizabeth Prelogar argue before the Supreme Court on cases she was losing, why immigration law is almost impossible to practice when the administrative rules change with every administration, how he used clips from My Cousin Vinny and To Kill a Mockingbird to teach younger attorneys courtroom technique, and his personal mission to visit every presidential gravesite and every major league baseball stadium in America — with Camden Yards already locked in as the answer to the stadium question.

Tim Sutton is a co-founding partner of Win Roche Sutton in Maryland, admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and the Fourth Circuit.

Connect with Tim Sutton:

winrochesutton.com

Maryland

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Tim Sutton

00:32 Visiting presidential gravesites — starting with John and John Quincy Adams by accident in Quincy

01:40 Growing up in Baltimore in the 80s when the Colts left and baseball was all there was

02:17 Leaving a large firm mid-career — when stable is not actually stable

03:54 How COVID shaped the team that eventually became Win Roche Sutton

04:34 What each partner brings — appellate, civil, family law, criminal, and business

06:04 How they keep overhead low with one paralegal and virtual everything else

08:16 Going to law school to become a sports agent and discovering he had the wrong temperament

09:43 Starting with the objective and working backwards to the strategy

11:05 Why family law is really about control and money rather than the children

13:18 The hardest part of family law — getting attached and watching clients ignore your advice

14:23 Representing immigrants facing deportation and the asylum win he's proudest of

15:20 Why immigration law became almost impossible between administrations

16:47 What makes appellate work different from a trial — the closed box versus the open box

18:25 How an appeal can turn on whether an issue was preserved — and what to do when it wasn't

20:11 Setting up an appeal to lose on purpose in order to come back with ineffective assistance

20:57 Being barred before the U.S. Supreme Court and the attorney gallery fast pass

22:00 What surprised him watching arguments in person — Paul Clement, Elizabeth Prelogar, and the justices' personalities

24:29 Rapid fire — 38 states, Wilson in the National Cathedral, Camden Yards, and My Cousin Vinny

26:17 Using My Cousin Vinny and To Kill a Mockingbird to teach younger attorneys

27:37 How the firm's diverse perspectives change outcomes for clients

30:00 Suing the governor on behalf of Her Resiliency Center for cutting funding to human trafficking victims

30:56 How to find Win Roche Sutton

#TimSutton #WinRocheSutton #MarylandLawyer #FamilyLaw #AppellateLaw #TrustcastShow #LitigationStrategy #SupremeCourtBar #ImmigrationLaw #SmallFirmLaw

What happens when a physician who survived machine gun fire at age eight in Aleppo, developed thyroid disease from Chernobyl fallout at fourteen, pioneered ketamine treatment and emergency telepsychiatry before most doctors had heard of either, and then watched the federal government indict him on four counts of health care fraud facing forty years in prison — only to have a jury deliberate for two hours and come back not guilty on every single charge?

In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with Dr. Mohamed Ali Rafai, psychiatrist, researcher, and author of the number one Amazon bestseller Doctor Not Guilty, about what it felt like to visit Otisville Federal Prison three weeks before his trial just to make peace with where he thought he might be going, why the government targeted him as an outlier for doing telepsychiatry between 2006 and 2020 when no one else was doing it, and what the prosecution got fundamentally wrong about how psychiatry actually works. He explains how he helped establish the first emergency telepsychiatry program in the United States in 2006 connecting three emergency rooms with $5 million in equipment that a CEO was brave enough to fund, why that same infrastructure became a model for tele-ICU during COVID, and what the jury understood that the government never did — that psychiatry is talking to people, not just writing prescriptions.

They also discuss the ketamine clinical trials he ran at NIH before esketamine became a nasal spray approved for depression, the first published report linking hepatitis C to psychiatric illness, what psychosomatic medicine actually is, the SHIELD organization he founded to help other doctors facing prosecution, and why his wife's best piece of advice — never talk to the police — may have saved his life.

Dr. Mohamed Ali Rafai is a board-certified physician in internal medicine, psychiatry, addiction medicine, and psychosomatic medicine. He is the founder of Blue Mountain Psychiatry, the creator of SHIELD, and the author of Doctor Not Guilty.

Connect with Dr. Rafai:

doctornotguilty.com

alirafai.com

shield.expert

Book: Doctor Not Guilty on Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Dr. Mohamed Ali Rafai

00:41 Doctor Not Guilty hits number one on Amazon in mental health and health law

01:25 Watching soldiers open fire on a school bus in Aleppo at age eight

02:09 Developing thyroid disease from Chernobyl fallout and the endocrinologist who helped write the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

04:18 Coming to Memphis, researching at the University of Tennessee, and choosing psychiatry over a PhD

05:32 Board certified in four specialties — including psychosomatic medicine explained

06:42 The brain-body connection and why mental health manifests as physical illness

06:49 NIH ketamine clinical trials — what they saw and what it became

08:37 How ketamine became Spravato, now approved for depression and suicidal ideation

09:01 Publishing the first report linking hepatitis C to psychiatric illness

09:53 Building Blue Mountain Psychiatry and establishing the first ketamine and deep TMS programs in Pennsylvania

10:58 Founding the first emergency telepsychiatry program in the United States in 2006

12:14 How that same infrastructure became the model for tele-ICU during COVID

14:11 The federal indictment — four charges, forty years, and why he was targeted as an outlier

15:34 The government's version versus the reality of how telepsychiatry actually works

19:57 The nursing home patient with suicidal thoughts — what the prosecution argued and why the jury rejected it

20:54 Visiting Otisville Federal Prison three weeks before trial to make peace with the outcome

21:00 The verdict — two hours of deliberation, not guilty on all counts

23:06 Rapid fire — Arabic dreams, grape leaves, TMS over ketamine, and never talk to the police

24:32 Why the best advice his wife ever gave him saved his case

26:32 SHIELD — helping physicians facing federal investigation before the train reaches station C

28:03 The OBGYN case where the government construed legitimate procedures as rape

28:10 What needs to change in how the federal government investigates physicians

29:20 Fighting to expunge an arrest record despite a not guilty verdict

30:14 Where to find the book, Blue Mountain Psychiatry, and SHIELD

#MohamedAliRafai #DoctorNotGuilty #Telepsychiatry #HealthcareFraud #NotGuilty #Ketamine #TMS #TrustcastShow #PhysicianRights #SHIELD

What happens when a man who grew up in a broken home, bounced between parents through a decade-long custody battle, fell into substance abuse in his teens, hit rock bottom, came to faith, earned dual clinical licenses, and spent years running behavioral health programs across Kentucky finally realizes that the executives he's now coaching are suffering from the exact same thing he was — just dressed up in a corner office and a bank account that looks like success?

In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with David Kingsbury, CEO of Kinged LLC, about what he calls the empty success cycle, why 95% of everything anyone does is subconscious and why that's the actual problem, and how the system he built called Accelerated Neuroconversion works by changing the entire neural target — not just one pathway — so that the behavior people want to change actually changes and stays changed. David explains the difference between burnout from overwork and burnout from identity misalignment, why the brain doesn't care if you're happy and only cares if you survive, and what cognitive dissonance actually looks like inside a high-performing executive who has everything on paper and can't figure out why none of it feels like enough.

They also discuss how a medical director with excellent clinical outcomes but unusually high staff turnover transformed her team's culture just by changing her own emotional frequency, why the first six to eight years of childhood create subconscious programs that run on autopilot for the rest of your life, what the three pillars of the Abundance Approach are and why wholeness has to come before impact, and why the hardest thing about what he built is also the thing that makes it work — it's not a tactic, it's an identity upgrade.

David Kingsbury is the CEO of Kinged LLC and creator of the Abundance Approach, a program designed to help high-performing executives break the empty success cycle through identity-level change.

Connect with David Kingsbury:

Kinged LLC

LinkedIn: David Kingsbury

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to David Kingsbury

00:41 Running statewide clinical operations, winning awards, and hitting a wall

01:01 Growing up in a broken home, a decade-long custody battle, and falling into substance abuse

04:29 The empty success cycle — why chasing the next mountain never brings fulfillment

06:37 How having been through addiction changes how you treat clients versus just learning from textbooks

07:48 What executives are actually addicted to and why it looks more noble but isn't

09:06 The signs that someone is stuck in the empty success cycle

11:03 Why external strategies never fix internal problems

11:42 The medical director case — excellent outcomes, terrible turnover, and what changed

13:16 The clinical and neurological foundations behind Accelerated Neuroconversion

14:58 The reticular activating system — why your brain filters for what you're already looking for

16:01 How neural automation works and why we're mostly on autopilot

18:00 Theta brainwaves, childhood programming, and why 95% of behavior is subconscious

19:00 Repetition as a way to bypass subconscious programming

20:04 The McDonald's example — why you can't change one pathway when six others are fighting against it

21:02 The Abundance Approach — wholeness, fitness, and impact

22:01 Burnout from a CEO perspective — the empty cup that nobody else can see

25:02 Cognitive dissonance in high performers and the two ways the brain resolves it

28:13 What if the very thing that makes someone successful is also what makes them miserable

29:01 Why burnout is usually identity misalignment, not overwork

31:03 The Abundance Approach and why founders can scale to seven figures without becoming more miserable

33:39 Why this is almost impossible to market — and why it works anyway

37:48 The three pillars explained — wholeness, fitness, and impact in full

39:33 How to know if you need identity-level performance training versus better tactics

40:54 How to reach David Kingsbury

#DavidKingsbury #KingedLLC #AcceleratedNeuroconversion #AbundanceApproach #EmptySuccessCycle #ExecutiveCoaching #TrustcastShow #IdentityChange #BurnoutRecovery #HighPerformerMindset

What happens when a former investment banker who restructured airlines after 9/11, flipped multimillion-dollar houses before 2008, and modeled in Milan between law school and his bar exam finally finds himself desperate at 48 with two kids and a house full of frozen equity — and ends up building the largest plaintiff-side sexual harassment and discrimination firm in New York?

In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with William Phillips, founder of Phillips & Associates, about what the 80% of people who never report harassment don't know about their options, why HR is not on your side and never was, and how a federal complaint drafted before a single call to the company changes everything about what happens next. Bill explains what actually drives a case from $100,000 to $3 million, why NDAs do not prevent employees from talking to a lawyer about discrimination, and why he tells every single client the same thing on day one — go get another job, we'll handle this.

They also discuss the consensual relationship that ended and became a retaliation case worth a significant settlement, why a bad performance review before the termination doesn't end a harassment claim, how he built a database of 8,000 clients to value cases like no other employment lawyer in the country, and the nonprofit harassmenthelp.org and National Plaintiff's Summit he founded to share what the other 80% don't know they're missing.

William Phillips is the founder of Phillips & Associates, a sexual harassment and employment discrimination firm with offices in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Georgia. He has recovered over $300 million for employees who were harassed, discriminated against, and retaliated against.

Connect with William Phillips:

Phillips & Associates

harassmenthelp.org

New York / Miami

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to William Phillips

00:45 What to say to the person sitting in their car in the parking lot after it happened

01:31 The biggest misnomer — calling a lawyer doesn't mean filing a lawsuit

02:54 Why making a complaint the wrong way makes everything worse

03:32 HR is not on your side — and what to do instead

04:26 Why the harasser almost never gets sent home when HR investigates

06:37 From investment banking and mergers and acquisitions to modeling in Milan to employment law

07:44 How restructuring airlines after 9/11 taught him to negotiate everything

09:59 Real estate boom and collapse — how he ended up starting over again at 48

11:50 Working for free for a year and a half to learn discrimination law from scratch

13:29 Opening Phillips & Associates with a phone and building it like a business not a law firm

15:14 Why lawyers fail at business and why thinking like a CEO protects clients

17:05 How having $1 million invested in client cases changes the dynamic

19:08 The single most important thing to do before saying anything to HR

19:39 What evidence you actually need — and how to document things in real time

20:36 How to know if what's happening is illegal or just a terrible boss

21:39 Is the fear of being blacklisted realistic and how does the firm address it

23:26 The performance improvement plan that appears right after a complaint

24:37 NDAs and severance agreements — do they prevent you from talking to a lawyer

25:30 What drives a case from $100,000 to $3 million

27:41 From first call to resolution — the Cliff's Notes version of how a case moves

30:14 Why a team model of lead attorney, associate, and paralegal matters

31:03 How the firm evaluates whether a case is worth taking

32:42 What the defense does first and how Phillips counters it

35:10 What if the employee wasn't ideal — but it's because they were being harassed

36:23 Holiday parties, conferences, and the go along come along dynamic

37:13 The consensual relationship that ended and became a retaliation case

40:16 What the $3 to $5 million cases look like

42:27 Miami or New York — where he does his best thinking

43:07 harassmenthelp.org, the podcast, the National Plaintiff's Summit, and the books

46:33 Where Phillips & Associates can help and how to reach them

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