Posted on June 13, 2007 4:27 PM |Permalink|TrackBacks (0)

Dear Friends,

Your expert witness might possess knowledge beyond any other individual in his or her discipline--but what impression will that expert make on the stand? Litigators can help expert witnesses succeed by properly preparing them for legal proceedings.

For this issue of The Expert Advisor, we spoke with specialists in the field of expert-training to devise these six ways to ensure your expert will perform as planned.

We also dive deeper into one area of specialization: securities-related disputes. Pete Pfeffer, one of Round Table Group's witnesses, discusses common scenarios for fraud in cases of losses tied to securities, commodities and foreign exchange trading. He addresses the process of uncovering fraud as well as methods for becoming involved in such cases in Gain Access to More Securities-related Disputes: Cultivate Relationships with CPAs.

Our mission is to provide readers with an edge in locating, preparing and utilizing experts. I hope you enjoy this issue; if you have ideas for upcoming themes or articles, please email me.

Regards,

Russ W. Rosenzweig, CEO
Round Table Group, Inc.

Posted on June 13, 2007 4:01 PM |Permalink|TrackBacks (0)

By Lisa Fields

Finding the ideal expert witness for your trial or deposition won't guarantee you success. To fully benefit from experts' knowledge bases, they must be properly prepared for the legal proceedings.

"Most expert witnesses have a lot of expertise in their particular disciplines, whether physician, scientist or engineer," says Steven Babitsky, president of the Massachusetts-based expert-witness training and consulting firm SEAK.

"Where they need help is in understanding the legal process. Once they understand the rules, they'll be much more comfortable testifying. Otherwise, it's like playing chess without knowing how to move the pieces."

In addition, as Russ W. Rosenzweig, CEO of Round Table Group, points out: "Different cases require different levels of training and experience. For example, if the attorney is concerned about the expert being perceived as a 'hired gun,' it wouldn't be appropriate to recommend someone with too much trial experience."

These six suggestions aid attorneys in preparing expert witnesses for success, regardless of experience level. Consider the following:

1. Demystify the proceedings. Don't brief your expert at a coffee shop half an hour before your trial. Meet her days or weeks in advance and explain the situation. "Give the experts a full understanding of the process: what the rules are, what they're allowed and not allowed to do, what they'll be facing," says Babitsky. "Then they can concentrate on answering questions and not be as concerned about the rules of the court."

2. Address all concerns. A good attorney will take a few hours to help ease an expert witness' mind. "Any issue they're worried about is important," says Babitsky, who says experts often want to know things like where to park and what to wear--not just what kind of questions they'll be asked and how long it will take. "If he's worried about wearing a tie or not, he's distracted," says Babitsky. "You want him to be calm, collected and relaxed."

3. Profile the opposition. Will your expert be up against a combative or easy-going attorney in cross examination? Alert him or her, says Alison Vredenburgh, PhD, a California-based liability expert and frequent Round Table Group expert witness. "Usually I'm more concerned about 'best friends' than aggressive attorneys -- be alert," she says. But an intimidating attorney can be just as problematic if your expert doesn't know the attorney's words aren't a personal attack. "Tell your expert to explain his or her position without getting defensive or argumentative," says Vredenburgh. "Sometimes at depositions, attorneys will behave confrontationally to see how the expert behaves. They may try it again at the trial if the expert gets angry or upset. Attorneys gauge the demeanor of the expert, not just the content of the testimony."

4. Minimize surprises. Do a mock cross examination so your expert will have experience answering difficult questions that may come up. "An attorney with the time and inclination to hone an expert's performance to the nuances of a case will be more successful," Rosenzweig says. "They'll be much easier to answer if the questions are identified ahead of time," explains Babitsky. "It's not uncommon for experts to freeze up or not know what to say when they haven't been prepped, and that can be damaging to your case."

5. Request a file check. "Sometimes attorneys assume they've sent an expert witness materials that they actually haven't," says Vredenburgh. The expert may not hear about a relevant document until a day or two before a deposition, ask the attorney for it, and then cram to read it before testifying. "To avoid this, the attorney should have the expert email a list of the documents they've received and reviewed a few weeks before the deposition," she says. "If anything is missing, the attorney can get it to the expert with time to spare."

6. Update your expert. If there are any recent developments in the case, let your expert know as soon as possible. "The worst thing for an expert is to be blindsided by information of which they weren't aware," says Vredenburgh. "It's really important that attorneys give all of the documents, photographs and facts of the case relevant to the expert's opinion well before it's time to testify, so the experts can be prepared. It's hard to be fully prepared if the expert gets new information in the eleventh hour."

When you work with an expert search firm like The Round Table Group, experts are often well-versed in courtroom proceedings. Round Table Group encourages all of its experts to undergo rigorous training, to give them an edge in difficult courtroom situations.

Round Table Group distinguishes itself by providing experts at the top of their fields. "They're deans, senior faculty members, partners at think tanks--they're people who already stay focused on continuing education and personal development," Rosenzweig says. "In many ways, our experts are the kind of people who, even if they don't have previous testifying experience, have spent their lives preparing themselves to be on the stand through skill and passion in their fields."

However, experts will often have concerns particular to the case at bar. Taking the time to address those concerns and familiarizing your expert with the details of your case could mean the difference between success and failure.

Lisa Fields can be reached at Lisa.F@BeTuitive.com.

Posted on June 13, 2007 3:47 PM |Permalink|TrackBacks (0)

by Lisa Fields

"There are securities salespeople out there who prey on clients by not telling them the whole truth. People can be bilked quite readily," says Pete Pfeffer, an expert witness for Round Table Group and a partner at the Chicago-based Walsh, Pfeffer & Co., which provides litigation support in securities-related disputes.

Growing a securities practice

Pfeffer advises attorneys who want to grow their securities practice to "talk to CPAs and accountants, because people who have substantial assets to invest usually don't do their own taxes."

A good working relationship with CPAs can mean greater access to a steady stream of securities cases. Pfeffer encourages attorneys to speak at local CPA associations' meetings to garner exposure. His advice: Let accountants know they can call with securities-related questions, especially if a client has had significant losses.

Common scenarios for securities-related disputes

Often, CPAs and accountants raise the red flag for clients who invest substantial amounts of money by recognizing the possibility of fraud with losses tied to securities, commodities and foreign exchange trading (FOREX), Pfeffer says.

According to Pfeffer, common scenarios for such disputes include:

• Billions of dollars of variable annuities get sold every year, many inappropriately. Variable annuities can be okay investments--but not when sold to people at or near retirement age, or into already tax-deferred IRA accounts.
• Recently, much arbitration followed the bear market that ran from 2000 through 2003, Pfeffer says. Many clients who lost money in the stock market claimed their brokers were to blame, particularly if the percentage of loss was significantly greater than the market drop.
• There's nothing wrong with investing money when you think the Euro, the British pound, the Japanese yen or other currencies will gain or lose on the U.S. dollar, but some salespeople don't disclose the very high degree of risk in FOREX.
• There's a possibility for fraud when a client trades on margin: A client purchases $20,000 worth of stock but only pays $10,000; the brokerage firm loans him the other $10,000. For every dollar the market may drop, the client loses two dollars, explains Pfeffer. This can be problematic if the client doesn't understand the risks of trading on borrowed money--because no one explained those risks to him.

After they've learned about a client's losses from his or her schedule of capital gains or losses, CPAs or accountants should recommend that an attorney review the case, says Pfeffer. "The CPA won't know if the loss was due to market investments or fraud, but it would be in his--and his client's--best interest to find out."

The attorney then needs to enlist the services of an expert specializing in securities matters, to determine whether fraud seems likely, says Pfeffer. The Round Table Group can provide expert witnesses who match the specific needs of varied cases.

Determining fraud

"The questions to be asked are: 'What did the client know?' 'Could he make informed decisions?' 'Was he misled?' 'Was the risk fully and fairly disclosed?'" says Pfeffer.

If the expert finds that a case has merit and fraud seems likely, he'll recommend that the attorney file a claim.

About half of all cases settle before they're heard by a panel of arbitrators, says Pfeffer, adding: "Frequently, they settle because the attorney can demonstrate that he has amassed sufficient ammunition from a consulting expert witness, and is prepared to testify."

CPA Professional Associations

• The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
• AGN International-North America
• American Accounting Association
• American Society of Women Accountants
• Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
• Financial Management Association International
• Independent Accountants International