Feb 18–20, 2027 · Huntington Beach · Registration Open
Phillip Miller's Advanced Deposition Academy and Masterclass
The Next Level of Deposition Strategy and Practice. Learn effective deposition skills using techniques developed and taught by Phillip Miller and his faculty for more than 20 years.
Phillip Miller's Advanced Deposition Academy and Masterclass delivers The Next Level of Deposition Strategy and Practice through Trial Lawyers University.
This is a new annual program that focuses on teaching skills for effective depositions using techniques developed and taught by Phillip Miller and his faculty over the last 20 years. This program is designed to supplant the traditional format with dynamic multi-instructor training that will take your skills to the next level no matter your level of experience.
Created by deposition masters Phillip Miller and Eddie J. Ciarimboli, the program will be held on February 18–20, 2027 in Huntington Beach, California at the Pasea Hotel & Spa.
The Format
Premium, intimate, on your feet.
This is deliberately not a lecture hall. The masterclass is capped at 54 participants, split into 9 groups of 6 — and your group stays together for the duration of the 3 days. That intimate, small-group setting is the whole point: everybody gets maximum time on their feet practicing, with instructors close enough to coach every rep.
The repetition of a disciplined methodology builds more than knowledge of strategy — it builds actual skills you can use and improve in each and every deposition you take, for both expert and lay witnesses.
Before the Masterclass
Participants will meet by Zoom in the weeks leading up to the conference so that they can get a deeper foundation to master advanced deposition skills. Spectator tickets are also available for those who want to observe.
What You Will Learn from Phillip Miller and Faculty
The next level of deposition strategy and practice.
Every question should not only extract information but strategically shape the case for a winning trial narrative. The Academy teaches you to take control of depositions, turn them into trial-defining moments, and frame every question with purpose.
Admissions That Change the Defendant's Perception of Risk
Using the MILLER MOUSETRAP to get a defendant or corporate representative to admit facts and truths, including jury proof, that are fundamental to establishing the legal and persuasive elements of your case.
Rhetorical Questions
When we ask rhetorical questions, jurors will answer the question in their heads before the witness speaks. If we have rhetorical questions that further our case, and we know how a jury is likely to answer that question, we've won our point before there is a response. Finding the right rhetorical question allows you to test and confirm that it really works, and then use it powerfully in depositions, voir dire, and trial.
Polarizing
Defendants often want to hedge their responses to avoid any real commitment. We can turn that defensive tactic to our advantage by polarizing a witness and making them less credible.
Simple Visuals
Simple visuals and timelines win cases. Phillip will help you throw out the data-dense, chart junk that dominates most trial visuals and drive a message that helps win.
Unexpected Questions
There are always two or more questions that are unexpected and can produce results that make a difference. While there are some question areas Phillip will suggest, we will discover what questions could be used for your case.
The Trucking 30(b)(6) Corporate Representative Deposition
Dig the safety hole and lower the trucking company into it. Learn how to structure your questioning to expose safety failures, establish liability, and lock in corporate admissions that will be undeniable at trial.
The Top 10 Worst Things for the Defense
Discover how to uncover and frame the most damaging admissions that shift the balance of power in your favor. Control witness responses, force truthful answers, and use precision word choice to box in the defense.
Turning Depositions into Trial Strategy
Every deposition is an opportunity to build the narrative you want jurors to hear. Translate deposition testimony into compelling themes, create visuals that reinforce key admissions, and set up powerful cross-examinations.
Mastering Word Choice & Visual Strategy
The way you ask a question shapes how a witness responds. Craft language and visual framing that push witnesses toward revealing the truth, making their admissions even more impactful in front of a jury.
Executing a Trial-Driven Deposition Plan
Go beyond routine questioning. Develop a step-by-step strategy for each deposition that aligns with your trial goals, closing argument, and damages presentation.
Commanding Presence from the First Word
Learn how to step into the courtroom with confidence, eliminate nervous energy, and project authority that makes jurors trust you before you even speak.
Precision in Vocal Delivery
Master the cadence, pacing, and pausing needed to emphasize key points, control the emotional flow of your argument, and ensure jurors absorb every critical fact.
Aligning Body Language with Message
Develop congruence between words and actions by using intentional gestures, glance control, and purposeful movement to reinforce your case themes and make your arguments feel natural and compelling.
Maximizing the Impact of Depositions in Trial
Convert deposition admissions into trial moments that captivate jurors. Learn how to mirror deponent body language and intonation, use visual reenactments effectively, and deliver testimony in a way that makes it unforgettable.
The Art of Emotional Connection
Jurors won't just remember what you say—they'll remember how you made them feel. Learn how to control your emotional state, project authenticity, and build genuine connections that make your client's story impossible to ignore.
Three-Day Agenda
Three days, hour by hour.
Advanced deposition strategy and tactics — changing a defendant's perception of their risks. Lecture blocks introduce each technique with live demonstrations and take-home tools; the rest of the day you're on your feet in your group of six, running the technique against your own case file.
Breakfast
Discover Everything the Witness Knows — and Protect Against Changed Testimony
Open-ended questions · exhaustion · boxing-in and Full Witness Disclosure “4 Wheel Drive” (facts, witnesses, documents) · restating and summarizing · dealing with rabbit trails. Tools provided: structuring open-ended questions that exhaust a witness's knowledge with minimal effort, boxing in responses that make changed testimony incredible, and the Full Witness Disclosure template.
Basic Skills Workshop 1
Open-ended questions and exhaustion, boxing in, restating and summarizing — 3 participants, 20 minutes each, using the participant's own case.
3 participants, 20 minutes each, using the participant's own case.
Basic Skills Workshop 2, Continued
Deposition Strategy — Getting Beyond the Outline
What questions to ask: the Proof Grid · polarizing witnesses · juror expectations, beliefs, and biases · using exhibits to control · the role of rhetorical questions in persuasion. Tools provided: Proof Grid, generational-characteristics cheat sheet, use of demonstratives.
Breakfast
Rhetorical Questions and the Miller Mousetrap
Establishing standards of care and conduct with defense witnesses: the importance of the 30(b)(6) notice · finding the “right” rule for your case · using rhetorical questions to avoid objection and have the witness create the rule. Tools provided: live demonstration of mousetrap questions and a Mousetrap template for every deposition.
Mousetrap Skills Workshop
Use the Miller Mousetrap and rhetorical questions to anchor key testimony — 3 of 6 group members, using the participant's own case.
Mousetrap Skills Workshop, Continued
Build one or more mousetrap patterns and rhetorical questions from your own fact pattern.
Lunch
The Clean Language Technique
Eliciting testimony, insights, and metaphor that can change case outcomes: why Clean blows open testimony in ways defendants can't anticipate · the 3 basic Clean questions · identifying when to use Clean on an answer · gestural metaphors that expose what a witness doesn't want to say. Tools provided: Clean Language cheat sheet.
Clean Language Workshop
3 of 6 group members, using the participant's own case.
Clean Language Workshop, Continued
Breakfast
Evasive Witnesses and Experts
Preparing the witness before you ask (the testifying-witness prep script) · commitment to the oath · educating the witness on procedure, including objections · mirroring · handling the witness who repeats case theories · rabbit trails · the catalog of standard evasive responses · using cognitive load to elicit truthful answers · dealing with “it depends,” “not always,” and schooled evasion. Tools provided: introductory questions that reduce evasion, mirroring practice, the prep script, the evasive-response catalog, and the “it depends” exhaustion script.
Evasive Witness Demonstrations
Faculty take on each standard evasive response: word and definition quibbling, “I don't know,” “I don't remember,” “I don't understand,” “what do you mean.”
Expert Depositions
To depose, or not depose · Daubert technique for discovery and motions in limine. Tools provided: Daubert deposition outline.
Lunch
Testimony That Builds Deposition & Trial Exhibits
Forcing commitments and polarizing witnesses on key case issues: agree/disagree (including fault and recklessness) · yes/no matrix · rhetorical questions · continuum lines · organizational chain of command or control · jury instructions and rules · guarantees · “grades” for conduct. Tools provided: exhibit templates.
Exhibit Skills Workshop
Anchor key testimony — build one or more deposition and trial exhibits from your own fact pattern. 3 of 6 group members.
Exhibit Skills Workshop, Continued
Closing Dinner Party
One workshop is listed per slot for brevity — as many as 10 small-group workshops run in parallel, with 15-minute breaks between sessions. Required pre-conference Zoom sessions cover the content in advance, and every exercise uses the case file you bring.
Mentorship
Coached by the masters.
Every group trains under the mentorship of Phillip Miller, Ed Ciarimboli, Joe Fried, and Sach Oliver — instructors who have taught deposition skills to plaintiff lawyers for decades. Because the groups are small and stay together, Phillip Miller, Ed Ciarimboli, Joe Fried, and Sach Oliver aren't names on an agenda — they're in the room, watching your reps.
Phillip Miller
Miller Law
The “Miller Mousetrap” was developed by Phillip to get case-winning admissions that would otherwise seem impossible. It’s a fundamental aspect of the Advanced Deposition Academy and Masterclass. Phillip is one of the country’s most experienced teachers and thought leaders in deposition strategy and practice. The faculty for this program have all been selected and vetted by Phillip for their skills, proven results in and out of the courtroom, and their ability to teach and transfer their knowledge and skills.
Phillip is an Army brat. Both of his parents served in WWII, his mother as a nurse in the Pacific and his father ran a combat ambulance company in Sicily and then Italy. He maintains an active practice in Nashville, but most of his time is now spent consulting nationally as a deposition and case strategist, including the use of surveys, focus groups, mock trials, and shadow juries. He co-authored Advanced Deposition Strategy and Practice and Focus Groups – Hitting the Bullseye, earned an LLM from Baylor Law School, and is AV rated, a certified Civil Trial Specialist, and a repeated Super Lawyer.
Ed Ciarimboli
Fellerman Ciarimboli · Program Co-Creator
Ed Ciarimboli is a founding partner of Fellerman & Ciarimboli and one of the nation’s leading trial attorneys in complex trucking, transportation, and catastrophic-injury litigation. He represents individuals and families across Pennsylvania and throughout the country in high-stakes cases involving all aspects of the transportation cycle, bringing decades of courtroom experience to every matter he handles. Ed has been instrumental as a course advisor and teacher in advanced deposition strategy for more than 10 years and has a passion for developing demonstrative evidence in depositions that wins cases. He is currently authoring the second edition of Advanced Depositions, Strategy and Practice with Phillip Miller.
Ed has successfully litigated transportation cases in courtrooms all over the United States, resulting in life-changing results for victims and their families. His work in trucking litigation has earned national recognition. He serves on the Board of Regents for the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys, the Interstate Trucking Litigation Group of the Attorneys Information Exchange Group, and national trucking-litigation leadership groups; he is board certified in truck-accident law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy.
Ed regularly educates attorneys nationwide on trucking litigation, trial strategy, deposition techniques, and the effective use of demonstrative evidence. He has presented at national conferences including Trial Lawyers University, the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys, national advanced-deposition programs, the Ultimate Trial Advocacy Program, and the Attorneys Information Exchange Group. His published work on FAAAA preemption and the strategic use of visuals in trucking cases guides lawyers handling complex transportation matters across the country.
Joe Fried
Fried Goldberg LLC
Joe Fried is considered by many to be the preeminent truck-accident attorney in the country. His office is in Atlanta, Georgia, but he has handled cases in more than 43 states, recovering more than $1 billion for his clients. He is the co-founder of the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys, a former Chair of a national truck-litigation group, former President of the National Trial Lawyers Trucking Trial Lawyers, and founding Chair of the National Board of Truck Accident Lawyers. He is among the first lawyers to be board certified in truck-accident law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and sits on the NBTA Board.
In addition to his expertise in trucking, Joe is a former police officer with advanced training in crash investigation and reconstruction, human factors, psychodrama, storytelling, and neurolinguistic programming. He is widely known for creative approaches to preparing and presenting cases and for his ability to craft and present the compelling human story in each case. Joe handles a small number of catastrophic truck-crash cases at a time so he can focus his resources on achieving the best possible results for his clients.
He spends the rest of his time working as a trucking-safety advocate, author, and educator. Joe has authored books, DVDs, and articles on trucking and litigation best practices and has given more than 1,000 presentations on these subjects to lawyers, judges, and trucking-industry stakeholders.
Sach Oliver
Oliver Law Firm
Sach Oliver is a trial lawyer and founder of The Oliver Law Firm in Rogers, Arkansas. The Oliver Law Firm has a regional practice focusing exclusively on catastrophic injury and death cases. Sach primarily works on 18-wheeler and construction work-site cases. His role on the team involves litigation strategy, depositions, negotiations, and all aspects of trial.
Sach received the 2015 Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award from the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association. He is a guest speaker at national and state trial-law conventions throughout the U.S. He is a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates and an inductee of an invitation-only fellowship for exceptional trial lawyers who have demonstrated the highest standards of trial advocacy, ethical conduct, integrity, professionalism, and collegiality. Sach has been instrumental as a thought leader and teacher in advanced deposition strategy for more than 10 years and has a passion for sharing what he knows through teaching.
Maxey M. Scherr
Scherr Law Firm
Maxey M. Scherr is the Founder and Lead Attorney of Scherr Law Firm, a trial law firm focused on catastrophic injury, trucking litigation, traumatic brain injury, wrongful death, and complex personal injury matters. Since 2009, Ms. Scherr has litigated countless jury trials, securing multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements. She practices throughout the United States, and is licensed in Texas, New Mexico, and Illinois.
Ms. Scherr earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology, magna cum laude, from the University of Massachusetts Boston and her Juris Doctor from Texas Tech School of Law. She also completed postgraduate studies in Neuroscience at Harvard University.
Ms. Scherr has extensive experience in commercial truck crashes, traumatic brain injuries, wrongful death claims, product liability, and the identification of non-obvious third-party defendants. She is recognized for her knowledge of the legal, scientific, and evidentiary issues that arise in catastrophic injury litigation.
Ms. Scherr currently serves as President-Elect of the Executive Board of the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys (ATAA) and sits on its Board of Regents.
In 2025, she and Scherr Law Firm received the Legal Champion Award at the Brain Injury Association of America's Luminary of the Year ceremony in Washington, D.C. In 2024, Ms. Scherr was recognized by TopVerdict.com after obtaining two Top Five Verdicts and two Top Five Settlements in Texas. She also received national recognition for a Top 10 Truck Accident Settlement, a Top 20 Truck Accident Verdict, and two Top 20 Occupational Injury Verdicts.
Jay Vaughn
Hendy | Johnson | Vaughn | Emery
Jay Vaughn has been instrumental as a thought leader and teacher in advanced deposition strategy for more than 10 years and has a passion for sharing practical deposition techniques, including corporate-representative depositions under FRCP 30(b)(6). Jay is one of the first Louisville injury attorneys to be board certified in truck-accident law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He is licensed to practice in Kentucky and Ohio and has received Martindale-Hubbell’s AV rating for the highest ethical standards and professional ability.
Since 2013, Jay has been named to Kentucky Super Lawyers, and since 2020 he has been recognized as one of the Top 50 Kentucky Super Lawyers. He has tried numerous cases, ranging from automobile collisions to complex catastrophic-injury and death cases. In 2021, Jay and his partner Ron Johnson obtained a $74 million verdict against a paving company for negligently completing a road project resulting in the death of a mother in front of her children.
Jay has given more than 175 presentations on a variety of legal topics and authored more than 30 articles published in legal journals and publications, including a section in a legal treatise. He is Past President of the Kentucky Justice Association and serves on the Executive Board for a national trucking-litigation group and the Board of Regents for the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys.
Carl L. Solomon
Solomon Law Group, LLC · Faculty, Deposition Academy — Trial Lawyers University
Carl L. Solomon is the founder and managing attorney of Solomon Law Group, LLC in Columbia, South Carolina, and faculty for the Deposition Academy at Trial Lawyers University. A frequent speaker on deposition strategy and trial practice with over thirty years of plaintiff’s litigation experience, Carl has built a practice representing injured individuals and families across South Carolina and North Carolina in catastrophic injury, trucking, medical malpractice, and wrongful death matters, while also directing a national mass tort practice through National Mass Torts and Environmental Firm, LLC.
He founded Solomon Law Group to focus on complex litigation, and the firm has since recovered more than $100 million for clients. In the AFFF (firefighting foam) MDL, Carl served on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee and was part of the bellwether trial team for the public water provider track, which settled globally for more than $12 billion; he currently sits on the bellwether trial team for Track One personal injury claims. He also represents school district clients in the JUUL Labs marketing and sales practices litigation and in social media litigation.
Joseph V. Camerlengo Jr., B.C.S.
The Truck Accident Law Firm
Joe Camerlengo is a founding partner of The Truck Accident Law Firm, where he maintains a nationwide trial practice specializing in serious personal-injury and wrongful-death cases caused by trucking, bus, and commercial-motor-vehicle crashes. He is a working maniac and brings that mania into his preparation for depositions as a prepared, aggressive, and unrelenting questioner. Joe’s skills as a core teacher in advanced-deposition training for more than 10 years make him a welcome addition to this Advanced Deposition Academy and Masterclass.
Although Joe has handled a wide range of litigation, he is renowned for finding and holding accountable companies that put unsafe trucks and truck drivers on our roadways, often with difficult facts. Joe is board certified in truck-accident law by the National Board of Trial Advocates and board certified in civil-trial law by both the Florida Bar and the National Board of Trial Advocates. Joe is a member of ABOTA, has achieved a preeminent AV rating by Martindale-Hubbell, and has been selected as a National Trial Lawyer Top 10 Trucking attorney.
Joe serves as an executive board member for national trucking, traumatic-brain-injury, and autonomous-vehicle litigation groups; is on the Board of Regents for the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys; and serves on the boards for the National Board of Trial Advocates and the National Board of Trucking Trial Advocates. He speaks across the country on trucking-crash cases and advanced trial techniques, and has been a repeat speaker for the Florida Justice Association, the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys, 360 Advocacy programs, Trial Lawyers University, Trial School, Trial Lawyer Nation, and other trial-lawyer organizations.
Faculty
The 2027 faculty.
Led by Phillip Miller, the multi-instructor faculty rotating through the groups includes:
