voir dire

For maximum justice.

Pour justice maximale.

During a recent two-month period, Maryland and Pennsylvania-based trial lawyers Briggs Bedigian and Jon Stefanuca obtained verdicts of $34 million and $187 million in back-to-back trials in complex birth injury cases.  Join Ben and Rahul for their discussion with Briggs and Jon about their path to handling these challenging, highly leveraged, and risky cases, and the strategies they have developed for sustained and repeated success.  Whether you handle birth injury cases or not, this episode contains important lessons that will benefit anyone who tries cases for a living.

About Briggs Bedigian

H. Briggs Bedigian (“Briggs”) is a trial lawyer dedicated to representing victims of medical malpractice and catastrophic personal injuries nationwide. Briggs and his partner, Charles Gilman, co-founded Gilman & Bedigian, LLC with one guiding principle – to provide the absolute best legal representation to those most in need.  

Briggs’ particular set of trial skills sets him apart from his peers when he steps into the courtroom. His familiarity with the trial process and his humility and comfort trying cases in front of juries has proven both persuasive and productive. Briggs has tried more than 70 cases to verdict, including winning the largest medical malpractice verdict in Pennsylvania history, $182 million on behalf of a catastrophically injured child. His record of success also includes winning the second largest medical malpractice verdict in Maryland history of $55 million.  

While Briggs prepares every case for trial, he routinely achieves multimillion-dollar pre-trial settlements, many in excess of eight-figures. Experience has proven that the hard work of trial preparation and his assertive strategy has been crucial to his success.  

Briggs has earned a reputation in the legal community as the “go-to attorney” for catastrophic medical malpractice and personal injury cases. When judges, defense lawyers, doctors, and prominent lawyers refer Briggs their serious personal injury cases, you know he is providing top notch legal representation – and getting top results.  

Bar Admissions:  

• Maryland  
• Pennsylvania  
• District of Columbia  
• United States District Court of Maryland  
• United States District Court for the District of Columbia  

Special Admissions by way of Pro Hac Vice:  

• Virginia  
• Texas  
• Alabama  
• New Jersey  
• Georgia  
• Delaware  
• North Carolina  
• Ohio  
• Nevada  

Education:  

• University of Baltimore School of Law, J.D.  
• Honors: Top 10% of class  
• Ithaca College, New York, B.A.  
• All American football player  
• Captain of College football team – elected by teammates.  

Professional Associations and Memberships:  

• The Inner Circle of Advocates (Inducted 2015)  
• Maryland Association for Justice (Elected to Board of Governors)  
• Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association (Elected to Board of Governors)  
• Pennsylvania Association for Justice  
• The American Association for Justice  
• Maryland State Bar Association  
• Baltimore City Bar Association  

Honors and Awards:  

• 2013 Trial Lawyer of the Year – Maryland Trial Lawyers Association  
• 2016 Named as one of Maryland’s Top 100 Lawyers – Super Lawyers Magazine  
• Named as “Super Lawyer” in the field of medical malpractice by Maryland Super Lawyers Magazine  
• Named as a ‘Rising Star” in the field of medical malpractice and personal injury by Baltimore Magazine’s Maryland Super Lawyers  
• The Heuisler Honor Society  
• Named in The National Trial Lawyers Top 40 under 40  

About Jon Stefanuca  

As a trial attorney at Gilman & Bedigian, LLC, Jon handles a variety of medical malpractice and personal injury cases. Jon has extensive experience with cases involving catastrophic injuries, including, but not limited to:  

• Cerebral Palsy  
• Pediatric brain injury  
• Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy  
• Developmental delays  
• Brain bleeds/ strokes  
• Neurologic injuries  
• Musculoskeletal injuries  
• Infections/ sepsis/ meningitis  
• Surgical injuries  
• Anesthesia injuries  
• Paraplegia/ quadriplegia  
• Traumatic brain injuries (TBI)  
• Spinal cord injuries  

Jon dedicates most of his time to helping children injured by medical negligence, including children diagnosed with cerebral palsy, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, and developmental delays.  

Beyond medical negligence, Jon has extensive experience with toxic exposure cases, including carbon monoxide poisoning and lead paint poisoning.  

He has handled hundreds of birth injury cases around Maryland and across the country. Some of his recent jury verdicts speak for themselves:  

• $182,000,000, Birth Injury: Hagans v. Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania  
• $34,000,000, Birth Injury: Anderson v. University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center  
• $20,000,000, Intellectual property dispute: Adcor Industries, Inc. v. Beretta USA Corp.  
• $13,300.000, Birth Injury: Lewis v. Upper Chesapeake Medical Center  

In addition to medical malpractice litigation, Jon has extensive experience with toxic exposure cases, including carbon monoxide and lead paint cases. His experience includes class actions, mass actions, business disputes, contract disputes, intellectual property disputes, and non-disclosure agreement .

litigation.  

• Verdicts and settlements in excess of $350,000,000.00.  
• America’s Top 100 Medical Malpractice Litigators by America’s Top 100.  
• “Nation’s Top One Percent” of attorneys by National Association of Distinguished Counsel.  
• Power List for medical malpractice and personal injury by The Daily Record.  
• Board Member, Maryland Association for Justice, the largest trial lawyers’ association in the State of Maryland.  
• Member, American Association for Justice.  
• Maryland Super Lawyer in the field of medical malpractice by Super Lawyers Magazine since 2020.  
• Rising Star in medical malpractice by Maryland Super Lawyers Magazine since 2011.  
• Maryland Top 10 under 40 for medical malpractice in 2015.  

Prior to joining Gilman & Bedigian, LLC, Jon was a trial attorney with Murphy Falcon & Murphy, a nationally recognized group of elite trial lawyers. Jon represented the injured in a variety of cases involving medical malpractice, catastrophic personal injuries, product defects, brain injuries, lead poisoning, and carbon monoxide poisoning, among other cases. He was a member of the litigation team in the class action filed against St. Joseph Medical Center and Dr. Mark Midei, which culminated in a $37,000,000.00 settlement. Jon was also a member of the litigation team in the class action filed against Kennedy Krieger Institute, involving allegations of unethical and unlawful experimentation on children. Jon also developed a reputation for representing professional athletes and their families in personal injury cases.  

Unlike most other attorneys, Jon has experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants. Jon was a litigation associate with Nash & Associates, LLC, where he represented MedStar Health, a $4 billion health care system in the Baltimore area with a network of nine hospitals and twenty other health-related businesses across Maryland and the Washington, D.C. region. As a result of this experience, Jon has a unique understanding of medical malpractice defense mentality and strategy.  

Jon served a judicial clerkship for the Honorable W. Michel Pierson, Circuit Court Judge of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, prior to entering private practice.  

EDUCATION  

Jon graduated with honors from the University of Maryland School of Law. He served as the Articles Editor on the Board of the Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender, and Class. He was also admitted as a member of the school’s Moot Court Board. As a student attorney, he represented a number of community organizations in the Economic Housing and Community Development Law Clinic for which he received a Special Achievement Award.  

LANGUAGES  

In addition to English, Jon speaks Russian, French and Romanian.  

PUBLICATIONS  

• Jon Simon Stefanuca, The Fall of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971: A Public Choice Explanation, 19 U. Fla. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y 237 (2008).  
• Jon Simon Stefanuca, Crawford v. Washington: The Admissibility of Statements to Physicians and the Use of Closed-Circuit Television in Cases of Child Sexual Abuse, 5 U. Md. L. J. Race, Rel. Gender & Class 411 (2005).  
• Jon Simon Stefanuca, The PRI and Its Demise as Mexico’s Single Ruling Party, 38 Towson U. J. Int’l Aff. 32 (2002).  
• Jon Simon Stefanuca, The ICC and the United States: Arguments in Favor of Ratification of the Rome Treaty, 37 Towson U. J. of Int’l Aff. (2001). 

Our podcast guests, Jill Leibold, PhD, IMS Senior Jury Consulting Advisor and Dave Poston, Esq., CEO, General Counsel, and Co-Managing Partner at Poston Communications explain how safetyism, social inflation, and the plaintiff media machine are impacting juror perspectives and driving damage awards. They also offer strategies for corporate defendants to navigate and overcome these trends.

Be sure to subscribe to the IMS Insights Podcast on YouTube or your favorite listening platform. Visit our website for more podcasts and articles featuring top litigators, consultants, and industry experts.

IMS has delivered strategic litigation consulting and expert witness services to leading global law firms and Fortune 500 companies for more than 30 years, in more than 43,000 cases. IMS consultants become an extension of your legal team from pre-suit investigation services to discovery and then on to arbitration and trial. Learn more at expertservices.com.

Gideon Asen attorney, Trevor Savage, joins the podcast to talk about a recent case he and Ben Gideon tried involving a delay in diagnosis of prostate cancer.  Ben and Trevor discuss some of the legal challenges they had to overcome and how they used focus groups and big data to identify key issues and frame the case effectively for trial.  They discuss their approach to voir dire, opening statements, use of demonstrative aides and order of witnesses.  

About Trevor Savage

Trevor is a skilled trial attorney who represents clients in claims involving medical malpractice, wrongful deaths and other complex personal injury cases.

After completing a clerkship with the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, Trevor began his career at a large firm in Portland, representing medical providers, businesses, and insurance companies.

Trevor’s experience as a defense attorney gives him a unique perspective that he uses to give Gideon Asen’s clients an advantage during litigation with insurance companies.

A native of Maine, Trevor is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, and then the University of Maine School of Law. At Maine Law, he served as Managing Editor of the Maine Law Review and as a legal writing teaching assistant for first-year students.

During law school—alongside his then-classmate and current colleague, Meryl Poulin—he distinguished himself as one of two “Prize Arguers” of their class and argued before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. He and Meryl Poulin—another Gideon Asen attorney—later competed nationally as teammates on the Maine Law Moot Court Team, finishing in the top three of a competition of more than forty teams.

While at law school, Trevor interned with the Appellate Division of the United States Attorney’s Office and then with Judge Kermit V. Lipez of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. He also worked as a Student Attorney at the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office (winning his first two jury trials as a second-year law student).

Trevor lives in North Berwick, Maine, with his wife, Amy, and two children, Jacob and Will.

In this episode, Ben and Rahul break down the recent $46 million verdict Rahul obtained in a case on behalf of a client injured during a Brazilian Jujitsu class.  Rahul talks about how he frames the issues in the case to deal with the challenge of many jurors believing that those who engage in dangerous activities, like Jujitsu, assume the risk of injury.  He shares his approach to voir dire and to obtaining this high-value verdict in a relatively conservative venue where verdicts tend to be on the lower side.  Rahul talks about how the verdict was received in the Jujitsu community and how it is likely to lead to changes that will make the practice safer.

About Rahul Ravipudi

Rahul Ravipudi is a partner at Panish | Shea | Boyle | Ravipudi LLP and has spent his legal career handling catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases involving commercial vehicles, pedestrians, industrial or construction accidents, utility negligence, dangerous conditions of public and private property as well as cases of sexual abuse and sexual assault. Mr. Ravipudi also represents consumers in class actions against businesses who engage in unfair/illegal business practices and public entities in cases where corporations have endangered the safety, health, property or comfort of the public.

Mr. Ravipudi currently serves as Public Entity Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead Counsel in the JUUL Labs Product Cases, representing school districts and other public entities in California involved in litigation against the electronic cigarette manufacturer. Has also serves as Plaintiffs Co-Lead Counsel in the Southern California Fire Cases litigation arising out of the 2017 Thomas Fire and subsequent debris flows in Montecito, California as well as on the Plaintiffs Executive Committee in the California North Bay Fires litigation. Mr. Ravipudi previously served on the Steering Committee in the Blythe bus crash litigation.

Named 2017 Trial Lawyer of the Year by Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, Mr. Ravipudi has obtained numerous landmark verdicts and settlements including a $160.5 million jury verdict for a man who suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of a vicious beating by security personnel for a nightclub, a $46,475,112.33 jury verdict for a beginning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu student who suffered a catastrophic spinal cord injury while sparring with a Del Mar Jiu-Jitsu Club instructor who performed a technique which rendered the student an incomplete quadriplegic, a $28,500,000+ settlement for a special needs student who was catastrophically injured after being struck by a vehicle while under the care and supervision of Victor Elementary School District (VESD) personnel, as well as a $23,500,000 settlement on behalf of the family of Paul Lee, a 19-year-old non-verbal autistic student who tragically died aboard a Whittier school bus after the driver left him behind to engage in a sexual tryst with a coworker. The Lee case was a catalyst for significant change in school transportation with Governor Jerry Brown signing the “Paul Lee School Bus Safety Law” in September 2016, requiring all school buses in the state of California to be equipped with a child safety alarm system that must be deactivated by the bus driver before departing the bus. The new law will go into effect at the start of the 2018-19 school year and requires bus drivers to receive training in child-safety check procedures.

Committed to serving as an advocate for his clients, Mr. Ravipudi has obtained numerous eight-figure awards including a $20,500,000 jury verdict for the mother of a high school student who was killed while walking to a bus stop, a $19,786,818 jury verdict for a man who suffered severe burn and traumatic brain injuries when his rental home exploded as a result of Southern California Gas Company negligence, a $13,935,550 jury verdict for 19-year-old pedestrian who suffered extensive injuries as a result of being struck on the sidewalk by a vehicle driven by a Los Angeles County employee, a $13,000,000 settlement for the children and parents of a woman who was killed when her car was hit by a Hawthorne, California police officer, a $11,000,000 settlement for the family of a middle school student who drowned during a school-sponsored swim party, a$10 million for the family of an independent truck driver killed by an intoxicated heavy lift operator at a stevedoring terminal in Long Beach, and an $8,000,000 jury verdict in Clark County District Court for a Nevada man who suffered significant internal injuries after he was served and ingested what he believed was a Honey Blonde Ale but was actually a chemical cleaning compound left in the tap lines.

Mr. Ravipudi shared his insight into successfully litigating cases against the stevedoring companies in an article entitled, “Danger on the Docks – Where there is an injury or death on the waterfront, drugs or alcohol are too often involved” published in the February 2011 edition of Advocate, journal of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles.

Additional recoveries obtained by Mr. Ravipudi include a $15,950,000 settlement for a teen who suffered a brain injury on an HOA playground, $8,000,000 settlement for an 81-year-old woman who suffered severe spinal cord injuries after falling at a hotel, a $7,000,000+ settlement during trial for the family of a man killed at SpeedVegas when the vehicle he was driving slammed into a track wall and burst into flames, $6,500,000 settlement for the two minor children and friend of a Southern California man who was killed after being struck on the highway by a freight truck whose driver had fallen asleep behind the wheel, a $6,000,000 settlement for a woman who suffered severe burn injuries when a faucet in the bathtub of her apartment detached and sprayed scalding hot water onto her body, a $5 million for an HVAC worker who suffered serious injuries when he fell through a skylight while working on a customer’s roof, a $3.3 million gross jury verdict arising out of the death of a pest control person crushed and killed when a semi-truck reversed into him at a warehousing facility, and $9 million from the State of California (Caltrans) when a 16-year-old girl on a restricted license lost control of her vehicle and collided into a guardrail damaged two days earlier resulting in a bilateral traumatic below knee amputations. This case involved significant appellate issues which led to Mr. Ravipudi’s article, “Dealing with the state of California’s first line of defense – stonewalling any meaningful discovery” published in Advocate, Journal of Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles in February 2009.

In recognition of his outstanding trial efforts, some of the awards Mr. Ravipudi has received include, but are not limited to:

2023 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiffs Consumer Lawyers

2023 Lawyer of the Year in Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Best Lawyer

2022 Top Plaintiffs Lawyer in California – Daily Journal

2022 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiffs Consumer Lawyers

2021 Robert E. Cartwright Sr. Award – Consumer Attorneys of California

2021 Consumer Attorney of the Year finalist – Consumer Attorneys of California

2021 Top Plaintiff Lawyer in California – Daily Journal

2021 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiffs Consumer Lawyers

2020 Top Plaintiffs Lawyer in California – Daily Journal

2020 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiffs Consumer Lawyers

2020 Plaintiffs Lawyer Trailblazer – National Law Journal

2019 Consumer Attorney of the Year finalist – Consumer Attorneys of California

2019 Plaintiffs Lawyer Trailblazer — National Law Journal

2019 Trailblazer Award – South Asian Bar Association of Southern California

2018 Consumer Attorney of the Year finalist – Consumer Attorneys of California

2017 Trial Lawyer of the Year – Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles

2017 Consumer Attorney of the Year finalist – Consumer Attorneys of California

2017 Top Plaintiffs Lawyers of California – Daily Journal

2017 Top 100 Lawyers of California – Daily Journal

2016  Trial Lawyer of the Year finalist – Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles

2016 Consumer Attorney of the Year finalist – Consumer Attorneys of California

2016 Top Verdict By Impact – Daily Journal

2015 Trial Lawyer of the Year finalist – Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles

2014 Top 20 Under 40 – Daily Journal

In addition, Mr. Ravipudi has been consistently ranked top in his profession for his work in Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs with annual inclusion to Best Lawyers since 2013 and selection to the Super Lawyers list since 2014, the latter of which recognizes no more than five percent of attorneys in the state. Mr. Ravipudi was previously selected as a Super Lawyers “Rising Star” from 2006-2013 – an honor awarded to the top 2.5 percent of lawyers in the Southern California area under 40 years of age.

Prior to joining Panish | Shea | Boyle | Ravipudi LLP, Mr. Ravipudi worked at another consumer law firm where his work helped recover over $4 billion for his clients. He participated as co-lead class counsel in a consumer class action case brought on behalf of all gas and electricity rate payers in the State of California against El Paso Natural Gas Company and Sempra Energy. This case arose out of the California Energy Crisis of 2000/2001 and resulted in the recovery of more than $3.5 billion in restitution to California utility customers. To date, this is recognized as one of the largest antitrust settlements in American history.

Mr. Ravipudi also participated as co-lead counsel on an antitrust class action case brought on behalf of all gas and electricity rate payers in California against Reliant Energy Services and other energy traders for manipulating the California natural gas market by engaging in wash trades, churning, and false reporting. Hundreds of millions of dollars were recovered for rate payers of the State of California as well.

In addition to serving as an Associate Editor for the Advocate, Journal of Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, Mr. Ravipudi actively publishes articles in various journals and trade publications and is a frequent speaker on various issues, including class action litigation and trial tactics. In 2010, Mr. Ravipudi was profiled in the California Law & Politics magazine in an article entitled “Class Act(ion)”.

A Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, Mr. Ravipudi is also a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers, and an Associate of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). He is an active member of the Consumer Attorneys of California, the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA), the South Asian Bar Association (SABA), and the Nevada Justice Association. He serves on the Board for Loyola Law School, on the Executive Committee for the Los Angeles Chapter of ABOTA, on the Board of Governors for CAALA, on the Steering Committee for SABA, and on the Board for Public Counsel. He has previously served as Treasurer of the South Asian Bar Association Public Interest Foundation and is an active supporter of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Mr. Ravipudi received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Minor in Chemistry from the University of California, Riverside and his law degree from Loyola Law School where he has served as an adjunct professor teaching Trial Advocacy since 2008. He resides in La Canada Flintridge with his three sons and wife Smitha, who serves as Chief Executive Officer at USC Care & Ambulatory Care Services at Keck Medicine of USC.

Sidley Austin Partner Jennifer Saulino joins IMS Jury Consulting & Strategy Advisor Dr. Christina Marinakis to discuss their work on a recent product liability case. They also share insights on the goals of jury research, voir dire and jury selection strategies, rural and metro venue considerations, cross-examination, and closing arguments.

Jennifer Saulino is a seasoned trial lawyer who specializes in complex commercial disputes, product liability, and white-collar crimes. Dr. Christina Marinakis has more than 20 years of experience in jury research, jury study, and applied practice in law and psychology. 

Find the IMS Insights Podcast on YouTube or your favorite listening platform, and don’t forget to subscribe. Visit our website for more podcasts and articles featuring top litigators, consultants, and industry experts.

IMS has delivered strategic litigation consulting and expert witness services to leading global law firms and Fortune 500 companies for more than 30 years, in more than 43,000 cases. IMS consultants become an extension of your legal team from pre-suit investigation services to discovery and then on to arbitration and trial. Learn more at expertservices.com.

Texas defense lawyer Scott Self and IMS jury consultants Dr. Jill Leibold and Dr. Nick Polavin join IMS Client Success Advisor and podcast host Adam Bloomberg to discuss the evolution of “safetyism” and its impact on jury trials and nuclear verdicts.

With nearly 50 total years of experience, our guests will share courtroom and research insights to explain why safetyism is dangerous for defense counsel, and then provide strategies for identifying and speaking to safetyist jurors in product liability and personal injury cases.

View the video version on YouTube. Visit our website for more of the IMS Insights Podcast.

IMS has delivered strategic litigation consulting and expert witness services to leading global law firms and Fortune 500 companies for more than 30 years, in more than 43,000 cases. IMS consultants become an extension of your legal team from pre-suit investigation services to discovery and then on to arbitration and trial. Learn more at expertservices.com.

Trauma-informed judges who understand domestic violence from a survivor's perspective are becoming more common but are not yet commonplace. In this episode, we talk with Judge Michael Denton, a veteran judge with decades of experience in both trauma-informed judicial training and practical experience navigating domestic violence cases about the benefits of the trauma-informed approach and the development of related specialty courts.

Michael Denton has served Travis County for more than 30 years, first as a young lawyer prosecuting offenders in County courts; later as the Director of the Trial Division for the Travis County Attorney’s Office, and; for the past 20 years, as Judge for Travis County’s domestic violence court (County Court-at-Law #4).  Bringing passion and commitment to this service, Judge Denton's advocacy began during his time as a volunteer for Austin’s (then) Rape Crisis Center, answering crisis calls and visiting the hospital to help survivors and family members.  In the 1990s, Judge Denton was Co-Chair of the Austin-Travis County Domestic Violence Task Force. Working across agency lines, including law enforcement and non-profit organizations, the Task Force reformed how Travis County approached domestic violence, including the creation of a specialty court for domestic violence.  Judge Denton has also trained other judges through the Texas Council on Family Violence and authored a domestic violence chapter of the Texas Bench Book.

Ben and attorney Meryl Poulin of Gideon Asen talk with Rahul about a verdict obtained on September 30, 2022, in which a jury in Androscoggin County, Maine, returned a verdict of $5.5 million on a claim brought by the daughter of a decedent against a funeral services business for mishandling of her father’s remains after death.  This is the largest jury verdict in Maine this year, and for the past several years.  

At trial, the evidence showed that the funeral service was picking up decedents for cremation, but not processing the bodies for cremation, but rather allowing them to decompose in the basement of the funeral home.  Plaintiff alleged negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims.  The damages claim was limited to Plaintiff’s emotional distress in learning about the mishandling of her father’s remains.  There were no physical injuries, medical expenses, or lost earnings claimed.  

The pretrial offer was $7,500.  

Here are some of the issues discussed on the podcast:  

1. How to overcome defense attempt to benefit from a stipulation to liability.  

2. How to turn Defendant’s “acceptance of responsibility” argument against them at trial.  

3. How to maximize recovery of emotional distress damages when there is minimal (or no) physical injury.  

4. How to dismantle the “death by 1000 cuts” defense.  

5. How to use voir dire to find jurors willing to assign real value to emotional distress damages.  

6. How to captivate the jury with a powerful opening.  

7. How to frame a powerful closing and rebutting close, even in a conceded liability case. 

About Meryl Poulin

Meryl is a Maine native and attended Colby College and the University of Maine School of Law.

Meryl is an extraordinary athlete. At Colby, Meryl played varsity hockey, field hockey, and softball and was captain of the hockey and field hockey teams. Meryl was able to achieve incredible athletic success despite being sidelined for many months with two major knee injuries and reconstructive surgeries. Her experience dealing with chronic knee injuries gave her insight into the difficulties of living with pain and the effect of debilitating injuries on every part of a person’s physical and emotional well-being.

At Maine Law school, Meryl distinguished herself as an appellate advocate, winning the honor of “Prize Arguer” in her class and the Gignoux Award for Appellate Advocacy. Meryl was a part of two moot court teams that competed on a national level. In her third year, she and her moot court partner finished in the top three of a competition of more than forty.

After law school, Meryl worked at a large law firm in Portland defending medical malpractice and personal injury cases. This work gave her a keen understanding of how insurance companies operate. “There is no shortcut to getting your client fairly compensated by an insurance company,” says Meryl. “You have to put your head down and do the work. Insurance companies respond only to intelligent, persistent, and dogged advocacy.”

More recently, Meryl worked at Pine Tree Legal Assistance, Maine’s largest legal aid organization. At Pine Tree, Meryl represented low-income Mainers in housing and eviction cases and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in protection order and family law cases. At Pine Tree Legal, Meryl tried nearly twenty cases to verdict and prevailed in all but one case.

“I met Meryl when she was representing hospitals,” said Taylor Asen. “She was fearless, and I could see right away that she was going to be one of the best trial lawyers of her generation.”

Kansas City trial lawyer Dirk Vandever has developed a mastery of voir dire and trial that few lawyers can match.  In this episode, Ben (https://gideonasen.com/our-team/benjamin-gideon/) and Rahul (https://www.psbr.law/ravipudi.html) chat with Dirk at the PSBR Trial College, where he taught a breakout group on voir dire strategy.  Join Ben and Rahul for their conversation with Dirk and learn the voir dire and trial techniques Dirk uses to regularly obtain significant seven-figure verdicts on behalf of his clients.

About Dirk Vandever

Dirk Vandever served as the youngest president of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association before going on to become president of the Kansas City Bar Foundation and the American Board of Trial Advocacy (KS/MO). He regularly lectures on trial practice at national, state and local levels. He graduated with honors from the University of Missouri – Columbia (BS) and UMKC (JD). His proudest achievements have been his own two children and being able to help his clients who need it.

In this episode, Ben speaks with trial lawyer and trial consultant Phillip Miller about how he helps trial lawyers deconstruct and then build a winning case for trial.  Phillip starts by identifying landmines that will cause you to lose the case.  Each landmine must be made irrelevant, immaterial, or otherwise overcome so that it does not sink the case.  Phillip then talks about questions that every juror needs answered: why is the case important?  How will the verdict affect meaningful change apart from money?  Who is the villain (wrongdoer) in the case?  What is the “real evidence”—i.e., the evidence that is not manufactured by one side of the other? Has this happened before?  Phillip talks about his strategy for voir dire, which involves using a series of clear PowerPoint slides to frame critical issues that identify good and bad jurors or prime jurors on important issues in the case. 

About Phillip Miller

Tennessee Serious Injury Attorney  

"Making the world a little better and a little more fair for everyone."  

Phillip Miller is a nationally recognized attorney who specializes in representing people and families who have experienced serious, catastrophic injuries and death. He is certified as both a civil trial specialist and a pre-trial specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Mr. Miller has been recognized as one of the “Best of the Bar” by the Nashville Business Journal, as a "Super Lawyer," is "AV" rated, and his firm has been designated as one of the pre-eminent law firms in the United States.  

Mr. Miller is the past president of the Tennessee Association for Justice. Mr. Miller is a frequently sought lecturer on legal issues and has spoken at the National Judicial College, Harvard Law School, the University of North Carolina, Sanford Law School, The William Mitchell School of Law, the Nashville School of Law, the University of South Texas, and Duke Law School.  

As part of his practice, Mr. Miller is frequently hired by other firms to help them prepare their biggest, most significant cases. Firms in Michigan, Alabama, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Texas, Oregon, Kansas, California, New York, New Jersey, Colorado, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Missouri have used Mr. Miller to help them recover tens of millions of dollars for their injured clients.  

Phillip's passions include education, the environment, dogs, and what he would describe as "making the world a little better and a little more fair for everyone."  

In addition to being a founding sponsor of School Aid, International, and sponsoring a Head Start class for more than 18 years, Phillip has also volunteered for Junior Achievement, bringing a businessman's perspective to middle school students.  

He is a lifetime member of the Sierra Club and belongs to the Tennessee Environmental Council, Tennessee Greenways, Nashville Greenways, and the World Wildlife Organization. Phillip sponsors "Rover," a free neutering/spaying program though the ASPCA, and visits them whenever they are nearby providing services to needy pet owners in the area. 

Special guest! Jason Bloom, one of the nation’s leading jury consultants, talks about his experiences with jury selection during the COVID-19 pandemic. From that foundation, he and I talk about issues likely to arise as jury trials return to reopening courthouses across the country. They include:

- A surprising eagerness of people to show up and serve on juries, in part driven by widespread feelings of frustration after months of shutdown;

- Concern about what Jason calls the “massive exercise in confirmation bias” that potential jurors bring to the courthouse with them, depending on how restricted a juror’s information sources may be;

- The once-obscure psychological terms “ultracrepidarian” and “pareidolia” (you have to listen to the podcast to explore those terms’ meaning :));

- Remembering that 2020 changed potential jurors not only because of COVID, but because of Black Lives Matter, the Biden-Trump election and its aftermath, etc.

- And a reminder that jury service—unlike the similar civic-engagement exercise of voting—forces jurors to form a consensus among their different beliefs; and 

- Why 1-page written questionnaires for potential jurors may be particularly useful now in light of the above issues. 

 For information on Jason, his background, and his outstanding jury consultation services, please visit his website.

A talk with Dr. Christina Marinakis, J.D., Psy.D., jury selection and voir dire expert. Marinakis is the Director of Jury Research at Litigation Insights, a large trial consultancy firm. Dr. Marinakis answers questions about: how the jury selection process works; strategies used to expose potential juror bias; and how psychology, stereotyping, and human behavior can play a role in that work. 

To get ad-free episodes, and more, get a premium subscription. To learn more about the show, go to behavior-podcast.com. I'm on Twitter at @apokerplayer. See a summary of my work.