Persuasion Skills for Trial Success 2026

Virginia is the Founder and Managing Member of ViKing Law, a personal injury and business law firm located in Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Prior to opening ViKing Law, Virginia was an insurance defense attorney for 18 years and a partner at a national defense firm in Philadelphia. She has won several personal injury trials and arbitrations, and successfully settled many cases at mediations, both as a defense attorney and while serving as plaintiff’s counsel.Her main practice areas include automobile, trucking, motorcycle, animal attacks, premises liability, construction accidents, insurance bad faith, defamation, consumer protection, and product defects. In 2025, she was inducted into the Million-Dollar Advocates Forum for a $1.76 million jury verdict she won on a sexual abuse case. Virginia graduated from Temple University Beasley School of Law in 2005, and University of Miami with a Bachelor of Business in 2002.She was an executive committee member for the Blood Cancer United (formerly Leukemia Lymphoma Society) eastern division “Light the Night Walk” and “Big Climb” events in Bucks County and Philadelphia.

An accomplished trial lawyer, Kevin Rauch has served as Managing Partner of the Harrisburg office of Summers, McDonnell, Hudock, Guthrie & Rauch, PC since its opening in 2003. Kevin handles a wide range of cases, having tried over 100 of them to verdict in both federal and state courts throughout the Commonwealth. Additionally, he has argued before the Pennsylvania Superior and Supreme Courts, as well as the federal appellate courts. Mr. Rauch serves as outside counsel for a number of area businesses in matters ranging from business planning, contract negotiation, employee relations, licensing and conflict resolution. He is also a member of the Capital Region Advisory Board of S&T Bank. He is a graduate of Washington and Lee University School of Law, J.D., and Allegheny County, B.A. He is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and before the U.S. District Courts of the Western, Middle, and Eastern Districts.

Mr. Shollenberger’s training in trial persuasion includes attending the David Ball Seminar, a PaTLA seminar on sources of information for persuasive closing arguments, and ATLA seminars focused on trial persuasion. He also attended a seminar with Joseph Quinn, who discussed the techniques he employed in one of his significant verdict cases. In addition to formal training, he has engaged in extensive self-study, including Moe Levine’s books and tapes on trial persuasion, the books cited in this presentation and several others, and all three volumes of David Ball’s books on trial advocacy and persuasion. His experience as a persuader in the courtroom includes serving as lead counsel in civil jury trials through verdict in Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Lebanon, Montour, Northumberland, Perry, and York Counties, as well as the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The cases have involved a broad range of matters, including products liability, medical negligence, motor vehicle and motorcycle accidents, and premises liability. In one products liability case, the matter settled after closing arguments. He has also served as lead counsel for insureds in uninsured and underinsured motorist arbitrations and compulsory arbitrations. Mr. Shollenberger has also gained substantial experience as a trier of fact and neutral, observing attorneys from the perspective of the person they are seeking to persuade. He served two three-year terms as a compulsory arbitrator in Dauphin County and served two terms as a member and then Chair of a Hearing Committee for the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board. In addition, he has served as a court-appointed neutral arbitrator in a major underinsured motorist case in Dauphin County and as an arbitrator selected by plaintiffs in numerous underinsured motorist cases.

Over the past two decades, Adam has handled catastrophic injury cases throughout the Commonwealth. He has developed a statewide reputation for his work in motorcycle and commercial vehicle involved crashes, most notably in highway mass pileup cases. In 2022, after no objections from any Defense or Plaintiff’s counsel involved in the litigation, he was appointed by the Union County Court of Common Pleas to oversee and coordinate litigation of a 60 plus vehicle crash case. Since 2025, Adam has resolved five separate cases for over $2 million, including settlements of $3 million and $7.4 million. Adam was named Managing Partner of Shollenberger Januzzi & Wolfe, LLP in 2012, at the age of 32. He is an executive committee member for the Pennsylvania Association for Justice (formerly the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers) and a board member (and former chairman) of the Penn State Health Children’s Miracle Network. He’s gained membership to the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers. Other recognition includes consecutive selections as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer by Philadelphia Magazine and being named to the Central Pennsylvania Business Journal 300 (recognizing the 300 most influential leaders), as well as to their “Power List” of personal injury lawyers.