Trial Lawyers University

Four years ago, Jenn Gore came to Trial Lawyers University running a volume pre-lit firm in Atlanta, looking to build up its litigation department. Since then, she grew Atlanta Personal Injury into one of the largest female-owned firms in the country, sold it to Sweet James, and left firm ownership to coach lawyers full-time. Back at TLU in Huntington Beach, Jenn reunites with guest host Andrew Pickett, one of her first coaching clients. Their conversation turns to a blind spot she sees again and again: brilliant trial lawyers who struggle to run a business. Tune in to hear why Jenn says owning a firm comes with a fiduciary duty to be a good business owner. Train and Connect with the Titans ☑️ Jenn Gore | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok ☑️ Evergreen Business Coaching | LinkedIn ☑️ Andrew Pickett | LinkedIn ☑️ Andrew Pickett Law, PLLC | LinkedIn ☑️ 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 2026 & 2027 Programming ☑️ Joe Fried & Joe Camerlengo's Trucking Bootcamp, Dec 8–12, 2026, Hermosa Beach, CA ☑️ TLU AI Conference, February 17–19, 2027, Huntington Beach, CA ☑️ Phillip Miller's Advanced Deposition College, Feb 17–20, 2027, Huntington Beach, CA Episode Snapshot After meeting Dan Ambrose through Darryl Isaacs at a mastermind, Jenn came to TLU in 2022 while running a volume pre-lit firm in Atlanta, eager to build up its litigation department. Building a personal brand gave Jenn an asset that outlasted the sale of her firm Atlanta Personal Injury, and she explains why every owner should build one. In her coaching, Jenn pushes owners to get visibility into six areas of their firm, plus one wild card factor that no two firms share. Contingency practice demands what Jenn calls nerves of steel, and she breaks down the financial realities that make it such a hard business to run. Looking ahead to 2030, Jenn is building out Evergreen's services, including fractional COOs who want to coach others on being the number two in command. Who are you using as an unqualified therapist? Jenn poses that question to people who avoid therapy, then shares why she is now exploring EMDR. Owning a firm brings duties beyond the courtroom, and Jen has blunt advice for trial lawyers who only want to try cases. Produced and Powered by LawPods, a podcast marketing agency for law firms

The defense blamed a 16-year-old mother for the crash that left her 10-month-old daughter paralyzed from the chest down. But Joe Camerlengo of The Truck Accident Law Firm saw it differently: Would a jury blame her, or the truck driver who had driven 29 of the previous 31 hours? Joe and his team turned down $90 million before settling just shy of $100 million the Friday before trial. A former insurance defense lawyer who now exclusively handles trucking cases, Joe joins host Dan Ambrose to explain how they valued the case and stood by that valuation. He also shares how “clean language” can turn a truck driver into a damages witness and why intensive client prep can increase case value. Train and Connect with the Titans ☑️ Joe Camerlengo | LinkedIn ☑️ The Truck Accident Law Firm | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube ☑️ 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 2026 & 2027 Programming ☑️ Joe Fried & Joe Camerlengo's Trucking Bootcamp, Dec 8–12, 2026, Hermosa Beach, CA ☑️ TLU AI Conference, February 17–19, 2027, Huntington Beach, CA ☑️ Phillip Miller's Advanced Deposition College, Feb 17–20, 2027, Huntington Beach, CA Episode Snapshot Raised by a nurse and a brick and block mason after his father was killed in Vietnam, Joe lived in a tent twice: once by choice and once after his family lost everything. Seven years at one of State Farm's largest outside defense firms trained Joe to believe that soft tissue injuries didn't exist — until his own crash left him with one. Joe’s first tractor trailer case, the death of a 19-year-old on a county road, ended with a national trucking company agreeing never to run double trailers on Florida county roads again. Borrowed from psychology, Joe explains that the clean language style of questioning draws out what witnesses would rather not describe, and how he’s made it work over Zoom and through an interpreter. Rather than crucify the truck driver, Joe asks permission to save the crash for the end of the deposition, a show of respect that gets the driver to draw the damages picture. The same injury that makes a $1 million car wreck case can make a $5 or $10 million trucking case, Joe says, if you do the trucking case right and get to the aggravated liability issues. Joe's witness prep runs at least three full days, moving from learning the client's story to a hard cross, and then building them back up with themes that can answer any attack. Clients who testify with all five senses let jurors picture their own homes and families. That shared common experience, according to Joe, is how these cases are won big. Produced and Powered by LawPods

The city’s best offer was $50,000 for a case most lawyers wouldn’t take. Sharif Gray’s team represented a homeless client who had spent 17 years in prison and gone at least six months without treatment after a library railing gave way behind him — and persuaded the jury to award $2 million. A former Army JAG now practicing at Gray Broughton Injury Law, Sharif joins host Dan Ambrose to explain the four questions his firm uses to build difficult cases. Drawing on that verdict and a $20 million result for a 13-year-old dragged at a psychiatric facility, he shows how disciplined case framing and getting your reps in the courtroom can accelerate a trial lawyer’s growth. Train and Connect with the Titans ☑️ Sharif Gray | LinkedIn | Instagram ☑️ Gray Broughton Injury Law | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube ☑️ 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 2026 & 2027 Programming ☑️ Joe Fried & Joe Camerlengo's Trucking Bootcamp, Dec 8–12, 2026, Hermosa Beach, CA ☑️ TLU AI Conference, February 17–19, 2027, Huntington Beach, CA ☑️ Phillip Miller's Advanced Deposition College, Feb 17–20, 2027, Huntington Beach, CA Episode Snapshot Attending TLU Vegas on a scholarship in 2022 opened Sharif's eyes to what was possible in personal injury law, sending him home with more than 20 takeaways for his colleagues. Why does Sharif's firm hire former criminal lawyers? They already know the hard stuff, from taking a witness to getting in front of a jury, and can learn civil procedure in about three to six months. AI is here to stay, according to Sharif, whose firm uses Eve for medical records, demands, drafting, and legal research, though he questions whether he'd want AI feedback while he's in trial. Sharif's firm builds its cases on four "Gray questions," a framework the team applies at almost every phase of case workup and trial presentation. Suing the City of Richmond after its neglected library railing gave way beneath their client, Sharif's team showed jurors why the case mattered by opening with a photo of the courthouse railings they had all used. Borrowing a concept from Joe Fried, the team tried that case around what the client's herniated discs took from him rather than the injury itself. Sharif shares how a focus group reshaped the damages ask in another case, which produced a $20 million verdict for a 13-year-old dragged by his shirt at a psychiatric residential facility. Produced and Powered by LawPods, a podcast marketing agency for law firms

In his early twenties, Sterling Hawkins and his father sold the company they built to a Silicon Valley group and raised over $550 million. When the housing market collapsed, so did the company, and Sterling went from a penthouse to his parents' house. At rock bottom, he chose to turn toward discomfort. Now the bestselling author of Hunting Discomfort and creator of No Matter What Adventures, Sterling joins host Dan Ambrose as the first non-lawyer guest on Trial Lawyers University. He shares how discomfort is a muscle that can be exercised and explains how to take that first step with a “no matter what” commitment. Tune in for insights on how a pattern interrupt can reignite a lawyer's spark. Train and Connect with the Titans ☑️ Sterling Hawkins | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | X ☑️ No Matter What Adventures ☑️ 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 2026 & 2027 Programming ☑️ Eric Oliver: Case Story Bootcamp, Oct 20–24, 2026, Hermosa Beach, CA ☑️ Joe Fried & Joe Camerlengo's Trucking Bootcamp, Dec 8–12, 2026, Hermosa Beach, CA ☑️ TLU AI Conference, February 18–19, 2027, Huntington Beach, CA ☑️ Phillip Miller's Advanced Deposition College, Feb 18–20, 2027, Huntington Beach, CA Episode Snapshot After selling the company he built with his father in his early twenties, Sterling went from a penthouse to his parents' house when the housing market collapsed. Terrified of public speaking, Sterling replied to junk mail for a conference in Singapore, landed the keynote, and rehearsed for five months to get ready. Citing University of Michigan research, Sterling explains that the brain and body process mental, emotional, and physical discomfort identically. During the 2020 shutdown, Sterling broke out of a slump by taking on David Goggins' 4x4x48 challenge of running four miles every four hours for 48 hours. Sterling contrasts working harder and working smarter with what he calls the real work: making what was formerly uncomfortable, comfortable. Even very successful lawyers can lose their spark to routine, and Sterling explains how a pattern interrupt reconnects them with themselves and a community. Produced and Powered by LawPods, a podcast marketing agency for law firms

Nine jurors blamed Kurt Zaner's client, a homeless man sleeping under a trailer, not the truck driver who ran him over. Still, when Kurt visited him afterwards, the man was as happy as if he'd won $10 million because someone had finally fought for him. That spirit drives Dragon Slayers, the listserv that Kurt, a Colorado trial lawyer and TLU instructor, built with inspiration from a fantasy author. Members share wins, raw losses, and referrals, guided by ideals like putting the journey before the destination and accepting that some clients cannot be saved. Tune in as Kurt tells host Dan Ambrose what AI still can't do on cross and how befriending defense counsel can mean less fight back. Train and Connect with the Titans ☑️ Kurt Zaner | LinkedIn ☑️ Zaner Law | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | YouTube ☑️ 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 2026 & 2027 Programming ☑️ Claude Cowork Masterclass, October 8–9, 2026, Hermosa Beach, CA ☑️ Eric Oliver: Case Story Bootcamp, Oct 20–24, 2026, Hermosa Beach, CA ☑️ Joe Fried & Joe Camerlengo's Trucking Bootcamp, Dec 8–12, 2026, Hermosa Beach, CA ☑️ TLU AI Conference, February 18–19, 2027, Huntington Beach, CA ☑️ Phillip Miller's Advanced Deposition College, Feb 18–20, 2027, Huntington Beach, CA Episode Snapshot After realizing his talks all drew on fantasy novels, Kurt started Dragon Slayers, a listserv whose trial lawyer members stand between their clients and "dragons" like insurers and corporations, sharing wins, raw losses, and referrals. Kurt answers Gerry Spence's warning that you can't be a great lawyer and a great father with "informed consent": consciously choosing what to sacrifice instead of defaulting to nonstop work. Despite two years on a knee cart, Kurt still exercises daily and explains why lawyers need to stay healthy for their clients, their families, and themselves. Kurt's firm uses Supio to write every pre-litigation demand, draft discovery, summarize depositions, and draft directs and crosses, but he credits human creativity for his most explosive cross material. Because a case might still end in a loss, Kurt makes a point of embracing every victory, from a $50,000 settlement to winning a deposition or a motion to compel. After passing on a workers' comp bad faith case that Sean Claggett successfully tried to a $145 million verdict in Colorado, Kurt learned to be happy that the client found the right lawyer at the right time. For the last five years, Kurt has sincerely tried to befriend defense trial lawyers, which he says makes trials more enjoyable and has even led to case referrals. Produced and Powered by LawPods