Daniel Rodriguez – From Cotton Picker to Grape Picker to Toiling in the Vineyards of Justice!

When you frame a case around negligence, you'll likely get a modest verdict or none at all. But when you reframe it as a story of betrayal, the jury's desire for retribution can dramatically increase your award—a strategy that helped Daniel Rodriguez secure a $35 million Iowa verdict, the state's largest motor vehicle crash verdict in history. In conversation with host Dan Ambrose, Daniel shares his approach to long-form opening statements using chapter-based storytelling, his techniques for building rapport with witnesses, and his powerful case-framing methods learned from David Clark. Countering conventional wisdom that openings should be brief, Daniel reveals why his openings run 75 to 120 minutes and how this structure transforms outcomes. He'll teach these proven techniques at TLU Beach (June 4-7).

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Episode Snapshot

• Daniel began life as a migrant farm worker, moving between labor camps and attending three to five different schools each year while picking crops across America.
• Despite having no lawyers in his family, Daniel wrote in sixth grade that he wanted to become an engineer and then attend law school.
• After graduating from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and UCLA Law School, Daniel returned to Bakersfield to start his legal career.
• Daniel has tried approximately 150 jury trials across criminal, civil, federal, and state courts.
• His engineering background provides a crucial advantage when cross-examining expert witnesses about technical matters.
• Daniel credits David Clark with teaching him that "betrayal stories" generate larger verdicts than negligence cases because juries forgive mistakes but seek revenge for betrayal.
• In 2023, Daniel secured a $35 million verdict in Iowa – the largest motor vehicle crash verdict in the state's history.
• At TLU Beach, Daniel will teach his chapter-based approach to opening statements, including how to introduce the plaintiff before describing the incident.
• Daniel emphasizes the importance of treating all witnesses with respect, noting that "jurors will identify with the witness long before they identify with the lawyer."

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