Thunderhead Ranch On the Road/The Gerry Spence Method
Six days of voir dire training for trial lawyers, on your feet, with Joseph H. Low IV and the faculty of the Gerry Spence Method.
This is not a seminar. This is the work.
The Ranch is going on the road.
Joseph H. Low IV, in the program’s film
Registration and payment are completed with the Gerry Spence Method.
The program runs October 18–23, 2026.
01The Premise
Once the jury’s picked, the trial’s mostly over.
“Jury selection is, without a doubt, the most important part of a trial.” That is how Joseph opens his invitation to Carlsbad, and it is why the Ranch is going on the road with one subject.
For six days, lawyers from around the world will work on the art and science of jury selection: the method originated by Gerry Spence and perfected at Thunderhead Ranch.
02The Work
“Every other place that a budding trial warrior goes is nothing more than a lecture,” Joseph says. “None of those lectures show you how you can develop your own voice.”
In Carlsbad you develop it the way it is done at the Ranch: in repetitions, over and over, with your own voice, in your own style, in your own way.
Photographs from Thunderhead Ranch by Jerry Ghionis Photography.
03What You Learn
As the Gerry Spence Method teaches them, and as you will practice them: on your own case, in front of the room.
Tell your client’s story in jury selection so that it feels to the jurors as if you are telling theirs.
Build a tribe of jurors, with you as their leader.
Form a real and genuine connection with the jurors, so that the trust between you is real.
Get the jury to connect with your client’s story and root for your client to win.
Get the jury to see the defense as the villain.
Learn to use story structure the way the big Hollywood movie makers do.
Use storytelling techniques to deliver a story that a jury can feel.
The same method carries into opening statement, direct and cross-examination, and closing.
04Faculty
Vice President, Director of Staff and Curriculum, and Chief InstructorThe Gerry Spence Method
President and Senior InstructorThe Gerry Spence Method
His courtroom presence has been described as bringing “life, thunder, and justice.”
They are joined in Carlsbad by the faculty of the Gerry Spence Method. Meet the Faculty (opens in a new tab)
05The Week
A multi-day, immersive workshop based on the Gerry Spence Method. You train on your feet, with live feedback, while working on your own case and your client’s story. In Carlsbad the work is jury selection.
At the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California, from Sunday, October 18 to Friday, October 23, 2026.
Tuition is $3,500. It covers the education, breakfast each morning, and snacks and beverages during the program. Paying by card adds a processing fee, shown before you pay.
Open to all personal injury plaintiff lawyers and all criminal defense lawyers in good standing with their state bars.
Joseph H. Low IV, the Method’s Director of Staff and Curriculum, with John Zelbst, its President, and the faculty of the Gerry Spence Method.
Registration and payment are completed with the Gerry Spence Method. Reserve Your Seat on this page takes you to the Method’s registration form for the Carlsbad dates.
The Ranch is going on the road. This coming October, we will be coming to Carlsbad, California. And for six days, we’ll be showing lawyers from around the world how to master the art and science of jury selection.
Jury selection is, without a doubt, the most important part of a trial. In fact, once the jury’s picked, the trial’s mostly over.
Our method is proven to be the most effective way to pick a jury that you can not only win with, but set a record with.
Originated by Gerry Spence and then perfected at the Ranch, the most storied and famous place in the country where a lawyer can actually go and train on how to be able to develop their voice, improve their skill, and become aware of everything they need to know to make them a successful and winning trial warrior.
Every other place that a budding trial warrior goes is nothing more than a lecture. But none of those lectures show you how you can develop your own voice.
You want to win big, and win cases that people say cannot be won, you’re going to have to learn to do it yourself, with your own voice, in your own style, in your own way. And the only way that’s going to happen is if you start getting in the repetitions, over and over, with the best trial warriors in the country right now.
So, if you want to learn how to master trial work, specifically jury selection, we’ll see you in Carlsbad.
Joseph H. Low IV, Director of Staff and Curriculum, the Gerry Spence Method.
07October 18–23, 2026
Six days. One subject. Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, Carlsbad, California.
Registration and payment are completed with the Gerry Spence Method.
