Episode

It’s that time of year again. What do we want 2024 (and beyond) to look like and how are we going to make it happen? At Cowen | Rodriguez | Peacock, it all starts with goals.

But, as we’ve all learned by now, all goals are not created equal. How do you identify your goals? Are they long-term or short-term and how do they align with your existing circumstances? Are they specific or general? How do you measure your progress?

On this episode of Trial Lawyer Nation, Michael Cowen is joined by partner Natalie Arledge to discuss goal-setting for 2024 and share some of their goals, including making more money, drafting pattern jury charges, empowering their team to make decisions, and using more visual aids in depositions, hearings, and at trial.

Tune in to join the Trial Lawyer Nation team in setting big, achievable goals for 2024!

Don’t miss out! Michael’s book, Big Rig Justice: A Comprehensive Guide to Maximizing Value in Truck Accident Cases is now available!

Featured Guest

Name: Natalie Arledge  

About: Natalie Arledge was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. She graduated cum laude from Baylor University with a B.A. in Political Science and earned her J.D. from Baylor Law School. A partner and trial attorney at Cowen Rodriguez Peacock, Natalie focuses her practice on 18-wheeler and commercial vehicle cases involving death and catastrophic injury.   

Company: Cowen Rodriguez Peacock 

Connect: LinkedIn 

Episode Highlights 

[4:43] The importance of setting specific goals. A goal should be specific, not wishy-washy. Specific goals are measurable, allowing you to track your progress.

[8:10] Natalie’s goals for 2024. Natalie’s goals include analyzing FOIA documents and driver logs, drafting pattern jury instructions after initial client meetings, putting photos of clients in their case files, empowering her team to make decisions, and using more visual aids. 

[13:29] Michael’s goals for 2024. Michael’s goals include hiring someone to take over the administrative part of running the firm, trying at least two jury trials, getting back to running five days a week, and hiking a mountain over 14,000 feet.

[17:12] How to ensure goals get done. Using visual reminders, enlisting support to stay accountable, and tracking goals on the calendar.  

[21:40] Presentation Zen. Michael recommends a book titled, Presentation Zen, about presentation design and delivery. 

[22:09] The idea of traction and hiring an integrator. The book, Traction, introduces the idea of traction, where a business has a visionary who comes up with ideas and an integrator then makes those ideas come to pass and runs the business. Michael wants to hire an integrator.

[26:45] Using coaches to achieve goals. Michael has many coaches in his life, including a fitness coach, eating coach, running coach, and business coach.

[27:35] Share your goals with Michael. Michael invites listeners to share their goals and offers to give advice to anyone who emails him at michael@CowenLaw.com. 

[27:52] Michael Cowen’s book. Big Rig Justice: A Comprehensive Guide to Maximizing Value in Truck Accident Cases, is available at Trial Guides. 

[28:11] Cowen’s Big Rig Bootcamp. Michael’s seminar will take place in San Antonio, Texas on July 12th. Sign up at BigRigBootcamp.com.

Connect with Trial Lawyer Nation

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In this popular and award-winning podcast for trial lawyers, noteworthy author, sought-after speaker, and renowned trial lawyer, Michael Cowen explores critical topics distinctive to the legal profession with some of the biggest names in the industry – specifically focused on developing extremely efficient law practices, securing a competitive edge in the industry, and wildly excelling in the courtroom.

Produced and Sponsored by LawPods.

Jury trials can be notoriously unpredictable, even when the facts are in your favor. To be successful at trial, attorneys need to do more than just rehearse their opening and closing statements. They also need to know how to influence the jury.

On this episode of Trial Lawyer Nation, Michael Cowen is joined by nationally recognized trial consultant and the author of several trial guides, Eric Oliver. Applying over 40 years of experience and his background in marketing and persuasion, Eric shares strategies and techniques that trial lawyers can use, such as storytelling, reverse sequencing, and the use of nonverbal communication, to engage and persuade the jury. Eric and Michael also discuss things such as confirmation bias and what lawyers need to be aware of so as not to alienate the jury. 

Tune in to gain valuable insight and tips on how to present your case more like a story to persuade the jury. 

Don’t miss out! Michael’s book, Big Rig Justice: A Comprehensive Guide to Maximizing Value in Truck Accident Cases is now available!

Featured Guest

Name: Eric Oliver

About:  Eric Oliver is a seasoned trial consultant with over 40 years of experience in the field. A nationally recognized trial consultant, Eric specializes in leveraging persuasion and perception of facts to influence legal decision-making. His expertise lies in working with trial attorneys and assisting them in presenting well-developed case stories that effectively sway decision-makers, both inside and outside the jury box. His books are available at Trial Guides. 

Company: Metasystems Consulting LTD.

Connect: LinkedIn

Episode Highlights 

[01:54] Eric Oliver’s background: Eric talks about his marketing and persuasion background and how he got started as a trial consultant.

[04:17] Books by Eric Oliver: Eric mentions how some of the books he has written and co-written have come about, including Facts Can’t Speak for Themselves and a revision called, Facts Still Can’t Speak for Themselves. 

[08:26] Get over the hump of suspicion and engage the jury: Research shows that people are genetically wired to create narratives. Trial lawyers can favorably present their client’s case to the jury by using this information to tell an intentional and cohesive story.

[11:25] How to do focus groups: The trick is to never ask the jury to take a position on the case, because it can work to your disadvantage. 

[13:54] Story components that are persuasive to a jury: Present your case more as a story and less as a case by incorporating elements of a narrative, such as point of view.

[15:20] Confirmation bias: Eric explains the meaning of confirmation bias and how it influences the jury’s thought process and decision-making. 

[18:11] The importance of motive and how to show it, rather than tell it: Eric and Michael discuss why motive is important, even in a negligence case, and how to show motive without telling the jury what they should think.  

[26:46] Rehearse your case and your experts: One challenge at trial is that when witnesses get on the stand, the whole story can fall apart. Eric explains a trick that you can use to train your experts to adopt your language, your imagery, your metaphors, and your analogies. 

[33:33] Sequencing doesn’t always mean starting at the beginning: Starting with the defendant’s story and working up to the bad act is not always the best approach. Sometimes a reverse timeline, where you start with the worst and back up to the beginning bad act, is more effective. 

[36:29] The good and not-so-good things about nonverbal communication: Eric discusses the pros and cons of nonverbal communication, and provides examples. He also talks about how to create rapport with the jury, including how to use mirroring.

Connect with Trial Lawyer Nation

☑️ Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn.

☑️ Subscribe to Trial Lawyer Nation on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and YouTube.

In this popular and award-winning podcast for trial lawyers, noteworthy author, sought-after speaker, and renowned trial lawyer, Michael Cowen explores critical topics distinctive to the legal profession with some of the biggest names in the industry – specifically focused on developing extremely efficient law practices, securing a competitive edge in the industry, and wildly excelling in the courtroom.

Produced and Sponsored by LawPods.

Lawyers constantly receive training in the form of CLE. However, training staff members in the day-to-day running of a law office is no less important to a successful practice. Nobody comes into a law firm knowing everything. Ongoing reminders and documented procedures are needed for employees to learn new things, retain information, and correct mistakes. 

On this episode of Trial Lawyer Nation, host Michael Cowen speaks with his fellow partner and trial attorney Malorie Peacock about how, why, and when to train employees at every level of the firm, from clerks and receptionists to paralegals and litigators.  

Tune in to hear Michael and Malorie discuss their approach to training at Cowen Rodriguez Peacock and lessons they’ve learned through years of training “trial and error”. Every office trains differently, but as they point out, there are some starting points and areas of emphasis that can help every firm implement a training program that is mission-focused and effective. 

Don’t miss out! Michael’s book, Big Rig Justice: A Comprehensive Guide to Maximizing Value in Truck Accident Cases is now available!

Featured Guest

Name: Malorie J Peacock

About: Malorie J Peacock is a Partner at Cowen Rodriguez Peacock. She was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas and received her J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center. During her time with Cowen Rodriguez Peacock, Malorie has worked on numerous commercial vehicle, trucking, and wrongful death cases. Malorie brings close attention to detail, commitment to finding safety issues and areas of neglect, continued utilization of technology and cutting-edge visuals in cases, along with a sincere passion to help those who have been hurt, to each and every case.

Company: Cowen Rodriguez Peacock

Connect: LinkedIn

Episode Highlights 

[02:57] Employees aren’t psychic: People can’t read your mind, and memory is fallible. Tell them how you want things done in a clear manner that they can remember. 

[05:57] Starting point: It can be overwhelming to figure out training priorities. Start with where training is needed the most. 

[09:02] Different procedures for different team members: Everybody–from the receptionist to partner level attorneys–needs training, but it should be tailored to the audience. 

[11:30] The human touch: Even when it’s written down or recorded, training should be presented in-person to maximize effectiveness. 

[15:13] Train. Retrain. Repeat: Training isn’t a one-off. Retraining helps lessons stick and allows errors to be diagnosed and corrected. 

[16:51] Identifying training topics: When mistakes or something new happens, training is typically required. It’s also important to ask people, at every level, what they would like to be trained on. 

[22:58] Quality control: While trial lawyers are often comfortable giving training to their coworkers, it’s not necessarily a strength of everyone in the office. There needs to be quality control to ensure training has the desired outcome. 

[26:29] Train early and often: Training should take place regularly, as soon as a firm has staff members. Waiting too long to start can make bad habits harder to break. 

[27:50] Outside resources: Sometimes, the trainers need training. Outside consultants and resources can provide valuable insights to internal team members. Don’t assume you know everything about everything.

[30:15] Lesson learned?: To get the most out of training, implement a system that can assess whether the lesson imparted is the lesson received so corrections can be made. 

[32:19] Radical candor: Be direct and truthful with people while maintaining respect and compassion for them. 

Connect with Trial Lawyer Nation

☑️ Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn.

☑️ Subscribe to Trial Lawyer Nation on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and YouTube.

In this popular and award-winning podcast for trial lawyers, noteworthy author, sought-after speaker, and renowned trial lawyer, Michael Cowen explores critical topics distinctive to the legal profession with some of the biggest names in the industry – specifically focused on developing extremely efficient law practices, securing a competitive edge in the industry, and wildly excelling in the courtroom.

Produced and Sponsored by LawPods.

Trying cases is an evolving process. And if you’ve been doing the same thing for 25 years, you’ve probably been doing something wrong for the past 24 years. From shorter jury attention spans, to Zooming in experts, to condensing information, and incorporating more visuals, courtroom trial techniques and jury expectations have changed significantly following COVID. 

On this episode of Trial Lawyer Nation, host Michael Cowen speaks with Ed Ciarimboli, a trial lawyer out of Pennsylvania who’s tried close to 100 cases since the beginning of his career. 

Tune in to hear Ed share how his approach to trials has changed in the post-COVID world and get his tips on how to adapt your trial strategies to “move the needle toward victory.” And how can you overcome the fear of losing cases? Get comfortable with yourself and realize that there are things that you can control and things you can not.

Don’t miss out! Michael’s book, Big Rig Justice: A Comprehensive Guide to Maximizing Value in Truck Accident Cases is now available!

Featured Guest

Name:  Ed Ciarimboli 

Ed Ciarimboli is a founding partner in the Eastern Pennsylvania law firm of Fellerman & Ciarimboli Law P.C. Ed concentrates his practice on trucking and auto collision and medical malpractice litigation. He is Board Certified by the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys and Board Certified in Truck Accident Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Ed has been selected for inclusion in the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers® list every year since 2008.

Ed graduated from Wilkes University with a dual degree in political science and engineering and applied science. He earned his J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law. After graduating from law school, Ed served as a law clerk to the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Company:  Fellerman & Ciarimboli Law P.C.

Connect:  LinkedIn

Episode Highlights 

[08:36] Learning and evolving: Ed views trying cases as an art where you’re always pushing the envelope and trying new things, some of which will work and some will not. He says that if you’re always doing things the same way, “you’re not learning and evolving.”

[10:31] Getting over fear: Throughout the course of his practice, Ed has learned that a big part of getting over the fear of losing cases or not doing well at trial is accepting that there are things that are in your control and things that are not. 

[12:41] Don’t talk to jurors afterwards: Ed follows the advice once given to him by a judge, which is to never talk to jurors after a case regardless of the outcome.  

[16:51] Take care of yourself first: Ed’s advice on dealing with stress is to take care of yourself first, both mentally and physically.  

[19:34] Using visual summaries: One of the things Ed learned while trying cases during COVID was to condense large volumes of information into visual summaries so that the jury can get all the information they need to make a decision, and to do it quickly, and in a way that leaves an impression. 

[29:44] Zooming into the courtroom: Pre-COVID, Ed rarely used Zoom. Now Zoom is commonplace and jurors expect it, especially with expert witnesses. 

[31:12] Move quickly but not in a hurry: Post-Covid, juror attention spans and trials have gotten shorter. Give the jury the information they need to make a favorable decision and don’t waste their time.

[39:32] Jury selection and masks: Jurors who wear masks can be polarizing and impact the group dynamic of a jury. Both Michael and Ed don’t select jurors who wear a mask.

[41:00] Sharing resources: Ed graciously shares a PowerPoint presentation that he’s done on visual aids.  You can download the presentation here.

Connect with Trial Lawyer Nation

☑️ Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn.

☑️ Subscribe to Trial Lawyer Nation on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and YouTube.

In this popular and award-winning podcast for trial lawyers, noteworthy author, sought-after speaker, and renowned trial lawyer, Michael Cowen explores critical topics distinctive to the legal profession with some of the biggest names in the industry – specifically focused on developing extremely efficient law practices, securing a competitive edge in the industry, and wildly excelling in the courtroom.

Produced and Sponsored by LawPods.

Trial is not a law school exam.  Just because you can technically put in evidence of certain elements of damages, doesn’t mean it’s in the client’s best interest to do so. It’s up to you–after having the conversation with your client, of course–to make strategic choices on damages. Afterall, the goal is to maximize chances of getting the best possible verdict for your client.

On this episode of Trial Lawyer Nation, Michael Cowen and Malorie Peacock continue their discussion on how they overcame the odds to win $17.5M in damages for their client in a case against a forklift manufacturer. In this part two of the series, Michael and Malorie share insight on how they told the client’s damages story.  Tune in to learn why they presented the client as a strong superhero, how they found a different story for each of the damages witnesses to tell, why you should use the KING flipchart, and the persuasiveness of the “want ad” technique when asking for compensation. 

To learn more about how Michael and Malorie established liability in the case, listen to part one.

Don’t miss out! Michael’s book, Big Rig Justice: A Comprehensive Guide to Maximizing Value in Truck Accident Cases is now available!

Featured Guest

Name: Malorie J Peacock

About: Malorie J Peacock is a Partner at Cowen Rodriguez Peacock. She was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas and received her J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center. During her time with Cowen Rodriguez Peacock, Malorie has worked on numerous commercial vehicle, trucking, and wrongful death cases. Malorie brings close attention to detail, commitment to finding safety issues and areas of neglect, continued utilization of technology and cutting-edge visuals in cases, along with a sincere passion to help those who have been hurt, to each and every case.

Company: Cowen Rodriguez Peacock

Connect: LinkedIn

Episode Highlights 

[03:30] Catastrophic damages: Malorie explains that the client’s foot was crushed between the forklift and a racking system in a warehouse. The crush to the foot ultimately resulted in a below-knee amputation of the client’s leg. The decision was made to amputate below the knee, as opposed to at the ankle, due to the greater prosthetic options.

[06:41] Splitting 50-50: Michael and Malorie split the entire trial 50-50 and that began with jury selection.  Michael explains that it was critical to have Malorie handle the damages part from the very beginning, including jury selection, since she was going to be asking the jury for money in closing and needed to begin to develop the relationship with the jury. 

[09:47] Presenting damages in opening: On the damages portion of opening, Malorie took a more “factual” approach. Strategically, they wanted to sell the jury on liability before they pressed too hard on damages.

[11:45] Making choices on damages: Michael and Malorie didn’t ask for past medical bills or lost wages. This was a strategic decision to anchor the jury to higher numbers, which ultimately worked in their favor.  Before giving up an element of damages, though, it’s important to have the conversation with your client. 

[18:39] Don’t bore the jury: Malorie shares her approach for getting a different story from each of the damages witnesses.

[20:01] Use the KING flipchart: During trial, Malorie wrote down really great phrases and words from the witnesses that she was able to use for two purposes: to keep the jury interested and to repeat in closing.

[24:24] Client’s social media videos were a goldmine: The client had posted videos of himself on TikTok–such as trying out his new leg and trying to exercise at the gym–which turned out to be very powerful videos that Michael and Malorie used on direct with witnesses. 

[30:00] Saying no: Saying no to some witnesses who wanted to testify was one strategic decision that was key to getting the verdict.

[33:41] The “want ad”: Malorie shares how they came up with a way to ask for the amount of money that would be enough to compensate the client for his loss, but would also be tied to the evidence, make sense, and be persuasive.

[39:17] At the end: Malorie shares that she had a fleeting moment of disappointment because the client didn’t get $38M, an amount she believed the client deserved.  However, the client still got an eight-figure verdict, which was still a great result for him, will help him get the medical care he needs, and help compensate him for the loss that he suffered.

Connect with Trial Lawyer Nation

☑️ Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn.

☑️ Subscribe to Trial Lawyer Nation on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and YouTube.

In this popular and award-winning podcast for trial lawyers, noteworthy author, sought-after speaker, and renowned trial lawyer, Michael Cowen explores critical topics distinctive to the legal profession with some of the biggest names in the industry – specifically focused on developing extremely efficient law practices, securing a competitive edge in the industry, and wildly excelling in the courtroom.

Produced and Sponsored by LawPods.