I'm Cliff Atkinson.
For 20 years I've taught lawyers how to circle a jury around a PowerPoint to tell an ancient story of justice that ended with billion-dollar verdicts.
Today I invite you to gather round to tell a new story of life that ends with a billion-year twist.
For 20 years, I've written the decisive through-lines that persuaded juries to award billions in verdicts.
Fortune magazine called my work "frighteningly powerful."
I helped craft the opening statement for the nation's first Vioxx trial: a $253 million verdict. I've worked on 150+ cases over two decades, resulting in billions in verdicts. My most recent case: a $5 billion antitrust verdict.
What I do is not just make better presentations. I read the room. I find the narrative. I create the conditions for a jury, or any group, to decide in your favor.
After two decades in those rooms, I began to understand what was actually happening when a case succeeded or failed, and it had nothing to do with strategy, preparation, or the quality of the argument.
It had to do with what was happening between people at the biological level. That discovery became the most important work of my life.
What clients say
"Cliff, I just wanted to say a big thank you to you. Your presentation was spot on and fantastic!" — Kristin G. Hamlin, Vice President, Wells Fargo
"Our members are still talking about the great workshop." — Christina Busso, Executive Director of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, DC
"Cliff is stinking amazing!" — Mark Lanier, Trial Attorney with $20 billion in verdicts
I'm the author of six books on communication, persuasion and human performance
Beyond Bullet Points: The visual storytelling classic, 125,000+ copies, translated into a dozen languages, named Best Book of the Year by Amazon.
The Survival of the Closest. Coming soon. The book that introduces a new structure of story.
About Me
I hold a B.A. from Baylor University and an MBA from Richmond, The American International University in London. I served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force, and have lived in 32 places across the world. I'm currently living between Dallas and Montreal with my husband, Louis;Â following the work, the science, and the question that has driven my entire career:Â What happens when we experience the biological conditions for trust to arise?
Ready to talk?
Whether you're preparing for trial, building a high-performance leadership team, or curious about what I teach, let's have a conversation.
