Trial attorneys and partners Thomas Segars & James Weiss from Ellis | Winters join the podcast to talk with Dr. Bill Kanasky about high exposure litigation and their process to approach these cases. Tom and Jamie share the importance of getting started early and the work they do on thinking about the themes for both the defense and for opposing counsel. They emphasize the need to meet with your witnesses early, well before the deposition, and to build rapport and trust with them and to conduct early evaluations of the witnesses based on those discussions. The group also discuss the challenges of dealing with "smoking gun" bad documents and how best to manage those documents. Tom and Jamie share their philosophies on witness deposition preparation and training, especially when dealing with difficult witnesses such as former employees and their take on virtual depositions and the pros and cons. Lastly, Tom, Jamie, and Bill discuss the importance of investing in mock trials and conducting them scientifically and realistically, especially because of what's at stake.