3-Week College: More Than a Trial Skills Course - a Turning Point
For over 30 years, TLC has helped trial lawyers uncover their most powerful tool: the truth, told through story. At the 3-Week College, you'll step away from routine and dive deep into the TLC Method—through psychodrama, connection, and on-your-feet training.
This immersive experience isn’t just about becoming a better trial lawyer. It’s about becoming more you—real, present, and ready to fight for justice.
Application deadline is May 31, 2026.
Oct 3-26, 2026 - Camp Dawson
Kingwood, WV
Transformation
The 3-Week College is where lawyers come to reconnect with their purpose, their voice, and the story beneath the case. You’ll learn to build trust with jurors, find the emotional heart of every case, and speak with authenticity from voir dire to closing.
Total Immersion
Trial mastery is not a solo sport. It demands time, repetition, honest feedback, and a group committed to authentic growth. Through intensive in-person training and the power of psychodrama, you’ll learn to strip away habits and uncover what moves jurors most: truth told with courage.
Elite Peer Community
Over three weeks, you’ll live, work, and grow alongside a community of like-minded advocates, guided by seasoned TLC faculty. You’ll practice every phase of trial—from story to closing—in real time. And you’ll leave not only a stronger trial lawyer, but a more grounded, connected version of yourself.
Meet Your Faculty Leads
At the heart of the 3-Week College is a team of accomplished trial lawyers who’ve walked the walk — and now teach what they’ve lived. Paula Estefan, Ron Estefan, Amanda Harber, Kim Savo, Ken Turek, and Colby Vokey bring decades of courtroom experience and a deep commitment to the TLC Method.
Through large and small group psychodramatic training, this faculty team guides you through every stage of trial: Discovering the Story, Voir Dire, Opening, Direct, Cross, and Closing — all building toward a mock trial. You’ll be on your feet, sharpening your instincts, and breaking through to the emotional truth of your cases.
What You'll Do and Learn
The 3-Week College isn’t for everyone. It’s for the trial lawyer who’s ready to hang up the day-to-day distractions, immerse fully, and emerge with trial voice refocused and unstoppable.
Core Skills You'll Learn
Discovering the Story: Traditional trial skills using the TLC Method are only part of being a persuasive force in the courtroom. To understand the power of a case the lawyer must not only identify the facts of the case but the emotional content. This starts with knowledge of oneself which in turn will give the lawyer the capability to know others and connect with each person in the courtroom including the client, witnesses, the judge and the jurors. The trained TLC faculty lead lawyers to this discovery. The power of TLC’s methods come alive through creative, spontaneous, outside-the-box innovations that capture juries and move them to justice.
Voir Dire: The TLC Method for Voir Dire trains trial lawyers to identify jurors who are favorable to the themes and objectives of the lawyer’s case, to develop powerful questioning techniques to uncover juror biases and attitudes and to build rapport with potential jurors to establish trust and credibility using the power of psychodramatic tools.
Opening Statement: The TLC Method for Opening Statement trains trial lawyers to forge an honest relationship with the jury by giving a genuine voice to the client’s story and avoid damaging pitfalls to deliver a winning Opening Statement using the power of psychodramatic tools.
Direct Examination: The TLC Method for Direct Examination trains trial lawyers to learn their client’s story and then bring their client’s story to life in a powerful way through their own witnesses. The lawyers will learn to recognize and avoid pitfalls of Direct Examination to deliver a powerful message to win justice for the client.
Cross Examination: The TLC Method for Cross Examination trains trial lawyers to apply the psychodramatic methods that improve listening skills and therefore the ability to understand and empathize with everyone in the courtroom, including opposing witnesses. The TLC Method provides trial attorneys the rare and important opportunity to not only build credibility but also transform an opposing witness into a witness for their client.
Closing Argument: The TLC Method for Closing Argument combined with the psychodramatic method teaches attorneys how to win justice for their clients by connecting their client's story, their loss and pain to those in a jury and courtroom.
ALL TIMES are in Eastern Standard Time
Agenda subject to slight modifications:
10/3/26
3:00 PM to 5:00 PM Registration - Guest Room Check-in 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM Dinner 7:00 PM to 9:15 PM In Session10/4/2026 to 10/8/2026
7:30 AM to 8:30 AM Breakfast 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM In Session 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Lunch 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM In Session 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM Dinner 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM In Session 10/9/2026 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM Breakfast 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM In Session and Goodbye to Week 1 Faculty 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Lunch (by reservation) 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM Dinner (by reservation) 10/10/26 Student Day Off 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM Breakfast (by reservation) 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Lunch (by reservation) 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM Dinner (by reservation) 10/11/26 to 10/16/2026 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM Breakfast 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM In Session 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Lunch 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM In Session 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM Dinner 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM In Session 10/17/26 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM Breakfast 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM In Session and Goodbye to Week 2 Faculty 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Lunch (by reservation) 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM Dinner (by reservation) 10/18/26 to 10/19/2026 Student Day Off 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM Breakfast (by reservation) 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Lunch (by reservation) 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM Dinner (by reservation) 10/20/2026 to 10/25/2026 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM Breakfast 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM In Session 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Lunch 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM In Session 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM Dinner 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM In Session 10/26/26 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM Breakfast 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM Election of Class Rep, GRADUATION and GoodbyesCamp Dawson, Kingwood, WV
Camp Dawson has a state-of-the-art conference center with modern facilities surrounded by the beautiful Appalachian Mountains. Enjoy on-site restaurant, convenience store, modern exercise gym, relaxing indoor swimming pool, sauna, outdoor firepit area for winding down at the end of the night, and their very own pavilion and dock for fishing or paddle boats!
Cancellation Policy
Given the high cost of providing courses with highly skilled teachers and at easily accessible venues nationwide, TLC must implement a cancellation policy. Cancellation notices and any questions should be sent to Molly@triallawyerscollege.org.
1. Any cancellation 35 or more days prior to the start date of any in-person course may receive a full refund.
2. Any cancellation within 34 to 15 days before the start date of any in-person course may receive 50% of the paid tuition as a credit towards a future program, to be used within one year. The person cancelling may offer a replacement for a full refund, but no refund will be processed unless the replacement makes full payment a minimum of 14 days prior to the start date of the course. It is the responsibility of the cancelling party to find a replacement.
3. Any cancellation within 14 -7 days of the start date of any in-person course is eligible for a 25% credit to be used towards a future program, to be used within one year. 4. Any cancellation within 6 days of the start date of any in-person course will not be eligible for a refund. 5. Virtual and webinar courses cancellations may receive a full refund if done 7 or more days prior to the course’s start date.Tuition & Costs
Tuition: $5,700
Tuition includes all training, meals (as indicated on the agenda), single guest room lodging with private bath and parking.
Application Deadline: May 31, 2026
Attendees must secure their own transportation to and from the course and during days off (as indicated on the agenda).
Attendees can pay the fixed price in full or opt for a payment plan that allows them to pay in 2 or 3 installments, with full payment made on or before August 14, 2026.
This course is based on a rigorous application process and class size is limited. The 3-week College is a must-attend for both Civil Plaintiff and Criminal Defense Trial Lawyers looking to develop their trial skills and build a successful legal career.
Flexible Payment Plans and Financial Assistance
The Trial Lawyers College offers partial financial assistance to those who apply and qualify as well as structured interest-free payments. Attendees can pay the fixed price in full or opt for a payment plan that allows them to pay in 2 or 3 installments, with full payment made on or before August 14, 2026.
Accreditation will be applied for through the West Virginia State Bar
Accreditation will be applied for through the West Virginia State Bar. Attendees will be responsible for submitting CLE credit approval to their state licensing department upon completion. TLC will provide all pertinent documentation needed for you to submit to your state for accreditation. Course Attendance will be monitored by faculty.
Claim Your Spot
Ready to go all-in? Space is limited—your transformation starts with your commitment.
Oct 3-26, 2025 - Camp Dawson Kingwood, WV
Trial mastery is not a solo sport. It demands time, repetition, honest feedback, and a group committed to authentic growth. Over three weeks, you’ll:
- Break down your trial persona
- Rebuild it with clarity and purpose
- Practice with peers until it becomes second nature
- When you leave, you don’t just know it—you are it.
Testimonials
"I'm already working on both of my associates telling them they have to come. The on-your-feet aspect is invaluable because it is so hard for civil attorneys to get trial experience. Also--excited excited to try the methods and gained so much value in addition to the legal side of things. This does not even mention the lifelong friendships I made."
“I will definitely attend other TLC courses. The College is more than a skills course. It is a passing of wisdom and an invitation to go deep within the self to find the authentic trial lawyer within. The TLC staff and community create the space to let go of fear, and experiment with methods of trial practice I never knew I was capable of."
- Grad 2025
“The combination of personal growth and practical skills is life changing.”
- Grad 2025