SAN DIEGO (June 22, 2023) – Leading civil litigation and insurance defense firm Tyson & Mendes announced the graduation of 24 attorneys from its 2023 Tyson & Mendes Trial Academy, a rigorous eight-week training program offered each year for a group of the firm’s aspiring trial attorneys.

Attorneys from across the firm’s 19 nationwide offices participated in the intensive program to learn, perform, and receive structured feedback on specific defense trial skills, utilizing a combination of active demonstrations, in-depth lectures, and engaging working groups. The TM Trial Academy culminated in an all-day, 150-person virtual mock trial event, which was held this year in mid-June.

According to Strategic Managing Partner Robert Tyson, the TM Trial Academy is a fundamental component of the firm’s professional development program and allows attorneys to participate in all phases of a jury trial, setting excellent standards for clients in and out of the courtroom.

“No other insurance defense firm invests as much as we do in educating and training its lawyers, and we do this because we know it’s what’s best for our people and our clients,” said Tyson. “At Tyson & Mendes, we have perfected a set of advanced defense methods for avoiding Nuclear Verdicts® and keeping down noneconomic damages. Through the TM Trial Academy, attorneys are educated in all stages of a jury trial – including pre-trial motions, voir dire, opening statements, direct and cross-examinations, and closing arguments – while learning how to put these methods into practice.”

Participants of the TM Trial Academy successfully demonstrated the skills they learned during the final mock trial where they competed as either plaintiff or defense counsel on a hypothetical catastrophic injury case. Firm lawyers, law clerks, staff, and volunteer friends of the firm played the roles of judge, jury, plaintiff, defendant, witnesses, and bailiffs. In the end, the jurors deliberated, rendered their verdicts, and provided valuable feedback to the trial attorneys.

An awards ceremony was held on Friday, June 16 to celebrate the completion of this year’s program and honor participants with “Trial Academy Awards” for outstanding performances during the mock trials. This year’s winners include:

• Best Cross Examination: Amy Headrick
• Best Cross Examination of an Expert: Clark Conforti
• Best Closing Argument: Daniel El Arnouty and Ashley Fetyko
• Best Voir Dire: Kevin Metros
• Best Use of Advanced Trial Skills: Faizan Habeeb, Clark Conforti, Tara Corsello, and Christopher Hall
• Best All-Around Performances: Christian Foster
• Most Creative Counsel: Brooke Park
• Most Dedicated: Abigail Gallagher

The academy sessions aligned with the teachings in Robert Tyson’s best-selling book, Nuclear Verdicts^®: Defending Justice for All. The TM Trial Academy is part of Tyson & Mendes’ commitment to ongoing education for its attorneys and is offered in conjunction with Tyson & Mendes University, a multifaceted training program to teach all firm attorneys case handling, trial strategy, and client service according to the firm’s unique methodologies. Tyson & Mendes aims to revolutionize the defense industry with the tools to combat the plaintiffs’ bar’s evolving tactics through communication, education, and compensation.

With 19 nationwide offices serving in 19 states, Tyson & Mendes is one of the fastest growing civil defense firms in the U.S. The firm is proud to offer one of the clearest paths to partnership of any mid-sized law firm in the U.S., and it invests more in educating and training its attorneys than any other insurance defense firm. For more information and to view career opportunities, visit tysonmendes.com.

About Tyson & Mendes LLP
Tyson & Mendes LLP is a nationwide, AV-rated litigation and trial firm specializing in insurance defense and protecting its clients from Nuclear Verdicts®. Robert Tyson and Patrick Mendes founded the firm in 2002 to defend corporations, insurance companies, and their clients in civil litigation matters. The firm has experienced tremendous growth in the past two decades, with offices across the U.S. serving clients in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The firm is most widely recognized for winning the landmark Howell v. Hamilton Meats California Supreme Court case, which forever changed the state’s litigation landscape by significantly impacting the damages a plaintiff may recover. Robert Tyson is also the author of the Amazon bestseller Nuclear Verdicts®: Defending Justice for All, the first and only playbook for the defense on how to avoid runaway jury verdicts.

For more information, visit tysonmendes.com.

Media Contact:
Ashley Bendas, J. Walcher Communications
ashley@jwalcher.com, 619-295-7140

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