Articles Posted in Researching Experts

Health insurance expert witnesses may opine on health insurance, medical insurance, managed care, and more. In Managed Care Fact Sheets, experts at the health care publisher MCOL describe provider payment arrangements:

In Managed Care Organization (MCO) provider contracts, providers often bear some level of financial risk. In paying providers, capitation and salaries involve the highest levels of provider risk, and are usually just allowed under HMOs. Episode of Care payments also involve some risk, as costs could exceed the case payment.

Capitation: Capitation means paying a fixed amount of money per person (per capita). Capitation puts a lid on payments per person that otherwise might change under a fee-for-service system. Providers are at full financial risk for the services capitated. The provider is paid a fixed amount per member enrolled, regardless of the number of services delivered to that member.

In Building A Box Around Murphy’s Law, risk management expert witness Donald Bendure writes on how to approach the transactional transfer of operational risk.

Always include insurance requirements of your sub-contractors.

Be aware and satisfy imposed insurance requirements in contracts you sign.

On his website, trucking expert witness Lew Grill, the SAGE Corporation, offers links to trucking research topics, e.g. Transport Topics Online.

In Social Workers and the Witness Role: Ethics, Laws, and Roles Susan Sarnoff, MSW, DSW, Assistant Professor, Ohio University, addresses the role of the social services expert witness:

Social workers have a long history of providing testimony in court, particularly in Family Court proceedings. Gothard (1989) noted that prior to 1980, few courts accepted expert testimony by social workers, and when they did, it was almost always to address child protection or custody issues. This has changed in the past two decades (NASW, 1998), but the change has brought liability risks for social workers who claim expertise inappropriately or who fail to observe either the law or their ethical obligations to clients.

Sarnoff differentiates among the various witnessing roles that can be held by social workers and suggests areas of the law and ethics with which social workers should be familiar in order to maximize their effectiveness on the witness stand and avoid the risk of malpractice.

The nursing expert witness may often be a Legal Nurse Consultant. Here, the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants answers:

What Does a Legal Nurse Consultant Do?

# Interviews witnesses and involved parties # Prepares persuasive graphic exhibits for trial # Assesses issues of damage and causation # Identifies and retains expert witnesses # Assists in obtaining medical records and identifying missing records # Organizes medical records and other medically-related litigation materials # Prepares chronologies of medical events and correlates them to the allegations # Developes collaborative case strategies with those practicing within the legal system # Provides support during discovery, depositions, trial and other legal proceedings

In Expert Witness – A Valuable Asset, William Gulya, Jr., construction expert witness and President & CEO, Middlesex Trenching Company, writes:

Expert witnesses often will be required to be deposed and testify under oath at trial. The attorney should know in advance how the expert would appear and perform under pressure. The expert should always be dressed in business formal attire, which sends a clear signal to the jurors the expert is respectable and professional.

The attorney should meet with the expert so he can observe the expert’s composure and tone and how he carries himself in a mock deposition or trial testimony atmosphere. Even some of the very best experts can get somewhat flustered during a rigorous and demanding cross-examination. The attorney should educate the expert in the redirect process so he or she fully understands the process and its importance.

The nursing expert witness may often be a Legal Nurse Consultant. Here, the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants answers:

What Does a Legal Nurse Consultant Do?

# Acts as a liaison with attorneys, physicians and clients # Educates attorneys regarding medical facts and issues relating to a case or claim # Researches applicable literature and evidence to determine the merits of a case # Reviews and analyzes documents and compares them to the allegations # Summarizes medical literature # Screens for record tampering # Defines and evaluates the standards of care practices # Evaluates the possible breach of duty on the part of the healthcare practitioner or facility # Prepares witness and exhibit lists

In Expert Witness – A Valuable Asset, William Gulya, Jr., construction expert witness and President & CEO, Middlesex Trenching Company, writes:

As in any profession, there are good and bad experts. An attorney should always talk with a prospective expert to obtain a sense of his or her demeanor, character, and experience in their field of expertise. One of the most common questions faced by experts from opposing legal council is “Mr. Expert, have you ever personally performed or supervised this type of task?” The ideal response would be “Yes, I have.” There are three types of experts — those with book knowledge only, those with hands-on field experience only, and those with both. Those experts who possess both book knowledge and hands-on experience in their field of expertise are the most desirable and sought after because they can answer “Yes.”

The most crucial component provided to the attorney is the expert’s report. After days of hearing conflicting testimony during trial, it is in large part the expert’s report that jurors will turn to for clarification. It must be neat, professional, properly formatted, grammatically correct, and organized. The report must present the facts of the case in a clear and concise manner and include a summary of the expert’s opinion to which laypersons and jurors will relate.

The nursing expert witness may often be a Legal Nurse Consultant. Here, the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants answers what makes a Legal Nurse Consultant distinct:

As licensed registered nurses, legal nurse consultants bring specialized health care education and clinical experience to the medically related issues of the litigation process. This education and experience distinguishes legal nurse consultants from paralegals and legal assistants and provides the foundation for the legal nurse consultant’s ability to recognize, interpret and analyze all relevant medically related information in a claim or case.

The primary role of the legal nurse consultant is to evaluate, analyze, and render informed opinions on the delivery of health care and the resulting outcomes. For over 20 years, legal nurse consultants have acted as collaborators and strategists, offering support in medically-related litigation and other medical-legal matters.

In Expert Witness – A Valuable Asset, William Gulya, Jr., construction expert witness and President & CEO, Middlesex Trenching Company, writes:

A case in point, an attorney in New Jersey, had a case in which his client suggested utilizing an expert. The attorney indicated to his client that it was not necessary, citing cost as the major factor. At trial, the testimony of three of the attorney’s key witnesses was rejected or restricted. The judge based his decision on the hearsay rule and restricted witnesses’ testimony to only those reports, tests or documents they alone prepared.

In the end, the evidence the attorney was able to get on the record was so limited that the case he had intended to present was non-existent. Had the attorney hired an expert witness, the hearsay rule would not have applied and the attorney would have been able to present the case as he intended. Notwithstanding the validity or invalidity of the judge’s ruling, he made the ruling at trial just the same. Now the case will go to the appellate division. In hindsight, the attorney’s decision to not bring on an expert compromised his case, upset his client and will not save his client any money. What his decision did do was to put the outcome of his case in jeopardy.