Trial Lawyer Talk: Recent Episodes
Scott Glovsky
Scott Glovsky, award-winning California personal injury lawyer, talks with the country’s best personal injury attorneys about being a trial lawyer.
The latest episode of Trial Lawyer Talk is the first of two Podcasts with Eric Fong. Eric talks about how to overcome fear and obstacles in and outside of the courtroom. He also discusses his recent case where he won a $91 million settlement which has a lot of great lessons for any trial lawyer. ... Read More
Adrian Baca discusses the case of an admitted gang member, Reggie Cole, who spent nearly 20 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. This wrongful conviction case was the subject of an article in Rolling Stone magazine called, “How I killed my way out of prison.” Once out of prison, Reggie got involved ... Read More
This episode of Trial Lawyer Talk was recorded on Juneteenth. Employment attorney Genie Harrison discusses a famous case for a black firefighter that caused racial division in Los Angeles. What started as an incident of racial harassment and discrimination, very quickly grew into a hostile work environment with retaliation. Ultimately, it became a constructive termination case ending a career.
About Genie Harrison
Genie Harrison practices law in Los Angeles, CA. Genie Harrison Law Firm represents victims of wrongful termination, sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and other employee rights violations. Ms. Harrison is the President-Elect of CAALA, the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles. CAALA is the country’s largest local association of plaintiffs’ trial attorneys.
About this Case
Ms. Harrison’s client Tennie was a fire fighter at Fire Station No. 5 in Weschester, CA. Tennie’s captains and coworkers fed him dog food in a racially motivated prank. They knew they would get away with the prank because the fire department did not have a universal process for workplace investigations. After the prank, Tennie didn’t feel safe and went out on leave.
When Tennie returned to work, he faced a potentially life-threatening act of discrimination. Just prior to a “flash over” training exercise, someone tampered with his oxygen tank and mask. Tennie lost trust that he would be safe and taken care of by his fire fighting peers. “Trust is so integral and key to being able to function as a fire fighter. Once that trust was completely and irretrievable broken, Tennie could no longer do the job.” Tennie left the department just shy of his retirement and pension.
Ms. Harrison tells the story of the case. She uncovered systemic violations, harassment, discrimination, and retaliation across Los Angeles fire stations. She explains that “Tennie broke my heart.” This case helped spark necessary changes in the Los Angeles Fire Department. Ms. Harrison now works together with community groups and civil rights organizations to create systemic change. She said, “When there are committed people who remain focused on what’s right, we can make the change happen and it can be different and it can be substantially, measurably better.”
Other Episodes of Trial Lawyer Talk
To listen to other episodes of Trial Lawyer Talk and hear from the best trial lawyers in the country, go here.
In this episode of Trial Lawyer Talk, we are humbled to have Don Clarkson join us to explain "Donisms." Don Clarkson is a phenomenal psychodramatist who pioneered psychodrama training for trial lawyers. Gerry Spence brought Don in when he started the Trial Lawyers College in 1994. The idea that Gerry and others had was that to become a better lawyer, you need to become a better person. You need to pursue your journey inward of self-exploration and figure out who you are. Then, you can use this insight to become your true self and your full self in the courtroom.
Today, Don discusses what many lawyers around the country know as “Donisms.” “Donisms” are pieces of wisdom that Don uses to help educate lawyers to become better people. And to become better husbands, wives, parents, children and lawyers. In this episode, Don explains the meaning behind several “Donisms.”
About Don Clarkson
Don Clarkson, owner of Clarkson & Associates, began training in psychodrama at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C. in 1961. He attended the Moreno Institute where he trained with Dr. J. L. and Zerka T. Moreno. He is certified as a Trainer-Educator-Practitioner by the American Board of Examiners in Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy. He was on the faculty of Howard University. During the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, Don pioneered psychodrama training for trial lawyers through the National College for Criminal Trial Lawyers.
“Donisms”
- You cannot tell someone else’s story until you know your own story.
- Listening is like holding another person. (Our greatest tool is our ability to listen.)
- You need to say something for yourself - regardless of whether it is going to do any good.
- Our job in life is to recognize the holes in the ground from our childhood or from our past so that we don't fall into them again.
- If you can’t talk about something, it’s out of control. (If there is something that bothers you in life, that’s really the direction you need to go.)
- The place that seems most dangerous is where safety lies.
- Love is the essential ingredient out of pain. Once you manage to endure the pain and come out of it, you allow yourself to be loved.
- Our goal in life is to understand who we are, to forgive our parents, and to forgive ourselves.
- Without pain there’s no growth.
- People pleasers often don’t get pleased.
- How we leave each other says how we’ve lived together.
Don ends by sharing how to hold someone and how to say goodbye. He explains, “I make it a purpose not to pat (someone’s back). And I make it a purpose also when I see someone to look at them. When I'm getting ready to leave, I say to myself, this may be the last time in life that I ever see you. So I want to take this moment to feel who you are.”
About this episode of Trial Lawyer Talk
In this episode of Trial Lawyer Talk, Marjorie Russell, a wise, thoughtful, and highly strategic trial lawyer consultant, shares a methodology for how to take the weakest aspects of your case, the ones that keep you up at night, the ones that you’re scared of in your voir dire, and turn them into part of a winning trial story. Marjorie discusses aspects of discovering the story, of connecting with the client, of going to those places that seem the most dangerous, and of working through them and integrating them into the heart of a case.
About Marjorie Russell
Marjorie Russell of MARJury Consulting lives in Michigan. She specializes in holistic case development; client, witness, and lawyer preparation; and jury selection. Marjorie has been a law professor for many years. She graduated from Gerry Spence’s first Trial Lawyers College (TLC) class over 25 years ago. Marjorie has been on the faculty of TLC ever since training some of the best lawyers in the country.
About this case
Marjorie discusses a case of a 19-year old man named David who got into a car accident causing two broken wrists and neck and lower back problems. Four years later, he had undergone surgery and his hands were still injured and he was in pain. David was unemployed, living in his parents’ home, and drinking heavily. In depositions, he seemed lazy, greedy, and like he was waiting for a large payout from the accident. David’s lawyer felt the jury would reject him because he could not get David “to talk about himself in a way where he didn’t validate the picture that the defense lawyers wanted to paint.” He called Marjorie to help.
Marjorie tells the story of how she helped turn the situation around for the trial. She says, “I think my best help is connecting with people and helping them feel comfortable fully being themselves, especially about the things that people want to attack them for.” In reality, David was a good person who “had reached a point of hopelessness.” They turned the story around from David as a “bad, irresponsible, horrible person” into a story of David suffering because so much had been taken away from him. In the end, it was a winning trial and “a story of redemption” for David.
Results
Marjorie ends Trial Lawyer Talk with, “That's my reward. When I see the healing and when I see the confidence. When I know that the lawyer has been able to take what we’ve discovered and make magic with it - that the jurors are lighting up with recognition. They know what that's about. They understand that kind of struggle and that he did become a hero in his own life. And that is the bottom line for me. I want to know how has the person were helping become a hero in their own life, and how can we show that story?”
In this episode, Scott speaks with criminal defense attorney Laura O'Sullivan. Ms. O'Sullivan tells Scott about a case that profoundly impacted her.
In this episode, Scott continues his discussion with Joey Low. Mr. Low tells Scott about a civil case that profoundly affected him.
In this episode, Scott speaks with trial lawyer Joey Low. In the first segment of this two-part episode, Mr. Low tells Scott the intriguing story of a capital murder defense case that took him all the way to Iraq.
In this episode, Scott talks to Louisiana attorney André Gauthier. Mr. Gauthier tells the moving story of a wrongful death case.