Win Catastrophic Injury Trials With the TLC Method

John Sloan, Course Lead

John Sloan is a nationally recognized personal injury trial lawyer licensed in Texas and New Mexico. A graduate of Baylor University and Baylor Law School, he began trying cases shortly after receiving his law license in 1980 and later founded Sloan Law Firm in Longview, Texas. For more than four decades, John has represented injured clients in cases involving trucking and automobile collisions, defective products, oilfield accidents, and traumatic brain injuries. He attended Trial Lawyers College in 1998, joined the teaching faculty in 2002, became a member of the Board of Directors in 2010, and served as TLC President from 2014 through 2024. John is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and holds national certifications in Civil Trial Advocacy, Civil Pretrial Practice Law, and Truck Accident Law. He is also a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and a regent of the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys.

James "JR" Clary, Jr.

James Clary, Jr. has been a trial lawyer for more than forty years, dedicating his professional life to seeking full measures of justice for clients in courtrooms across the country. A native of Baton Rouge, Jim earned both his B.A. in Journalism and his law degree from Louisiana State University before opening Clary Law Firm in 1993, where he has represented ordinary people and small businesses in matters involving plaintiff personal injury, commercial litigation, criminal defense, family law, and professional licensing board hearings. A graduate of the 2002 class of Trial Lawyers College, Jim has served TLC in many capacities, including as a member of the Board of Directors from 2009 to 2025, Treasurer for a decade beginning in 2014, and faculty member since 2004, teaching various aspects of trial law for nearly 20 years. Deeply committed to TLC’s mission of obtaining justice for the injured, the accused, and the least powerful among us, Jim considers this work the honor and privilege of his life.

Betsy K. Greene

Betsy has dedicated her life to justice in southern Indiana. After earning her law degree from Indiana University in 1982, she began her career as a prosecutor before shifting to personal injury law—first with Ken Nunn (’67), and later co-founding Greene & Shultz with Fred Shultz (’96). A leader in and out of the courtroom, Betsy serves on the AAJ Board of Governors and chairs its public education committee. Named a Distinguished Barrister by The Indiana Lawyer, she has received AAJ honors for leadership and justice and was inducted into the Maurer School of Law’s Academy of Law Alumni Fellows in 2020.

Joseph A. “Joe” Fried

Joseph is a nationally recognized trial lawyer and a pioneer in the field of truck crash litigation. As a founding partner of Fried Goldberg LLC, Joe has handled cases across more than 40 states and helped establish many of the investigative and trial practices now used in commercial motor vehicle cases nationwide. Before entering private practice, he served as an Atlanta police officer, a federal judicial law clerk, and, for 20 years, a part-time Magistrate Judge in Fulton County, Georgia. Joe co-founded the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys and helped develop the nation’s first ABA-accredited Board Certification in Truck Accident Law. His multidisciplinary training includes accident reconstruction, physics, biomechanics, human factors, psychology, psychodrama, storytelling, and persuasion sciences. A 2002 graduate of Trial Lawyers College and a member of the faculty since 2005, Joe is passionate about helping lawyers uncover the compelling human story within each case and present it in a way that allows jurors to become champions for justice.

Mel Orchard

Mel tries cases across the country and has secured record-breaking verdicts in Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Iowa, and beyond, with settlements and verdicts totaling hundreds of millions of dollars over his 33-year career. He is a member of several invitation-only organizations recognizing trial excellence and professional integrity, including the Inner Circle of Advocates, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and the American College of Trial Lawyers. A senior faculty member at Trial Lawyers College for more than 15 years, Mel is deeply committed to strengthening trial lawyers and helping them better serve their clients and communities.