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.

Categories
Working With Experts

0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this post: 6 Ways To Help Expert Witnesses Succeed

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.roundtablegroup.com/movabletype/mt-tb.cgi/2

Post a comment

Name
Email Address
URL
Remember personal info?
Comments (You may use HTML tags for style)