Placing Expert Witnesses & Case Evaluation Process

Placing experts for pending litigation is what we here at Round Table Group have been doing for over 27 years. We are passionate about discussing our process of locating, assessing, and engaging the best and most qualified expert witnesses. In the second episode of our podcast, we delve into this fundamental element of our business.  

Our team of expert search professionals has placed thousands of successful expert witnesses over the last quarter century. Many litigators take the challenge of expert search on themselves, however there are significant benefits to having a company like Round Table Group handle placement. 

Dan Rubin, our National Business Development Manager, explains, “An integral part of practicing law as a litigator is finding the right expert. However, they have limited time available to truly conduct a comprehensive, rigorous, and thorough search for the right expert on their case.” The search process is more nuanced then simply finding a potential candidate. It takes time to conduct outreach, await responses, follow up with multiple candidates, schedule interviews, and assess their credentials and ability to testify.  

These processes are something that Round Table Group has perfected, because that is all we do day in and day out. As a result, attorneys receive unprecedented attention to the details of an expert search which results in hours, days, or sometimes weeks of non-billable time saved.  

There is a common misunderstanding in our industry that expert witness search and referral is just about the network. However, it goes beyond the existing connections and into a search methodology that has been refined and optimized.  

Case Evaluation Process

• Intake – Obtain case details including expert description and parties involved in order to conduct a customized search. This involves a comprehensive discussion with the attorney. 
• Exploratory Research – The second thing we jump into is deepening our understanding of the case. What is the summary and the relevant facts? This provides context to our experts so that we ensure the work is in their wheelhouse.  
• Expert Description – Next, we take our guidance from the attorney and build out a description of the perfect expert. This includes things like geographical location, testifying experience, academic vs industry practitioner, new expert vs expert with decades of experience. These attributes round out the search.  
• DNC List – This is a list we put together before contacting experts that contains any candidates that should be excluded for one reason or another. Perhaps the attorney has already determined they are unqualified, or maybe a conflict exists. We want to make sure that we’re not contacting these people.  
• Deadline Consideration – This is the last stage of the case evaluation process. We always make sure that we have visibility of all deadlines related to expert disclosure and reports. Being that expert work often takes a lot of time, it is critical to know important dates so that we can handle all administrative tasks in a way that is aligned with the legal team’s schedule.  

Inherent in any litigation is a laundry list of variables and considerations on behalf of the attorney. Working with an expert witness search and referral firm ensures that legal teams can optimize their time by offloading search tasks to industry experts such as Round Table Group. Our decades of experience in the industry helping litigators weigh all considerations ensures that time isn’t wasted going down dead ends.