Can I Be an Expert Witness?
Posted: Thursday, October 28, 2010
by Judd Robbins
Presentation Dynamics
Yes, if you are already an expert in something. Litigation in the United States is widespread, and crimes themselves span a host of disciplines. Expert witnesses and consultants, and especially those with skills in the legal arena, are always in demand. A fee of $300 to $400 an hour is commonplace; this can range up to $1000 an hour if you are a medical expert.
For me, witness work contains the novel element of performance art. As you might suspect, it requires speaking skills, teaching skills, and self-confidence. If you already have those skills plus expertise in your specialty, you're only one step away from being an expert witness. If you have only one or two of those capabilities, you're still well ahead of the game. And even if you have none of those skills yet, you can still parlay your expertise in your discipline into this rewarding new arena.
Seminars and workshops exist to teach professionals how to speak in public. Schools exist that specialize in training teachers. You can always study and improve, and then apply those skills in your expert witness career. Should you become an expert witness in your specialty? Can you? Come to my website and get a free look at my complete training book. This course will help you come to the best decision. If you've already made the decision to become an expert witness but have not yet been successful at attracting lawyers to retain you, I can share my experience about ways to connect with hiring attorneys. Maybe you are a successful expert witness already, and you'd like to learn how to improve on that success. Perhaps you'd like to be called as an expert more often, and to reap the rewards for your improved skills.
The lessons taught in this book have been learned and applied by me over decades. In hours, you can learn how to avoid mistakes that took me months or years to discover. You might still make errors, but you will improve with each case and attorneys will hire you back and pass your name around to other attorneys who need experts. Expert witnessing is an energizing arena and if you have the attitude, aptitude, and fortitude, you will receive respect, personal satisfaction, and increased pay.
Article 2 --- What's the Difference Between an Expert Consultant and an Expert Witness ?
The prospect of being an expert witness' and testifying in court is exciting to many professionals. However, roughly 90% of the time, even if you are hired to be an expert witness, you will act instead as an expert consultant because the vast majority of cases simply do not go to trial.
The expert consultant role is often filled by a specialist who is eventually designated as the expert witness. The consultant role combines teaching and analytical roles that are equivalent to those of an expert witness, except that they do not include testifying in court. If you're already an expert in your profession, you can use the lessons in this book to learn how best to find new expert witness jobs and how to master this discipline. This form of consulting spans the following:
Investigation You study the technical details of materials, accidents, or other events. You might run tests, create reconstructions, or research books and journals for writings on the same subject matter as your case. Afterward, you consolidate your research, analyze your findings, and draw conclusions from them. Your primary role in the beginning stage of an investigation is to learn the technical facts of the case and to explain to your retaining attorney the application of those facts. This, in turn, will guide your retaining attorney to better decisions.
Assessment -- Attorneys will sometimes hire you to assess the technical merits of the other side's claims. You may review their submissions and give your opinions about the bases of the claims and their potential strengths or weaknesses.
Opinions --- As an expert consultant, you generally act behind the scenes. The other side in the case won't even realize you exist. That is the way it will stay if your analyses and assessments suggest to your retaining attorney that his case is weak, or if the attorney chooses not to go to trial because he simply wants to use your technical analyses to extract the best deal or settlement for his client.
Attorneys will have a deadline by which time they have to designate,' or officially identify, their expert witness . The discovery' process covers the preliminary phase of every legal matter. This is when investigations are performed and appropriate information is shared among the parties. If the attorneys like your results, and are comfortable with and confident of you, they may formally designate you to the other side as their expert witness. You continue to be responsible for any ongoing investigations, analyses, and assessments, but you now will add the center stage role of potentially testifying in depositions or at trial. You will have to follow stringent rules for investigations, evaluations, and reporting on results and opinions.
In cases that involve higher stakes, attorneys will sometimes hire separate specialists to serve as expert consultants and expert witnesses. If you are hired in one of these roles, you may or may not have contact with the person hired to fill the other. Attorneys are taught to keep their expert consultants and witnesses separated but in my experience, they do not know or follow this advice. If you become one of two experts (an expert consultant or an expert witness) in a case, ask your attorney about the possible upside or downside of having conversations with the other expert.
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