In Why a Medical Expert Witness Can Make or Break a Case, pulmonary medicine expert witness Dr. John Penek, MD, FCCP, FAASM, writes:
Whether the court case is civil or criminal in nature, both plaintiffs and defendants can benefit from the use of a medical expert witness. This is especially true in an era where forensic technology is growing by leaps and bounds.
Just what can a medical experts offer in the realm of traditional jurisprudence?
In EFFECTIVE VALUATION & LITIGATION SUPPORT IN CORPORATE SECURITIES LAWSUITS, forensic accounting expert witness Richard M. Squar, CPA, CVA, ABV, CFF, MBA-Taxation, writes:
CASE LITIGATION SUPPORT AREAS
The valuation expert assists legal counsel in the preparation of briefs, either by review of a draft brief prepared and/or focused discussion of issues with legal counsel prior to preparation of a brief. Also, critique of opposing counsel’s briefs are helpful interpretations and insights into the case.
In EFFECTIVE VALUATION & LITIGATION SUPPORT IN CORPORATE SECURITIES LAWSUITS, forensic accounting expert witness Richard M. Squar, CPA, CVA, ABV, CFF, MBA-Taxation, writes:
CASE LITIGATION SUPPORT AREAS
• Early case involvement • Assisting in coordinating, selecting and supervising other experts on the case • Assessing the case • Critique of the opposition • Expert testimony • Rebuttal • Assistance in preparing briefs • Discovery • Data management • Preparation of interrogatories • Depositions • Research • Damage calculations
In EFFECTIVE VALUATION & LITIGATION SUPPORT IN CORPORATE SECURITIES LAWSUITS, forensic accounting expert witness Richard M. Squar, CPA, CVA, ABV, CFF, MBA-Taxation, writes:
LITIGATION SUPPORT FROM THE BUSINESS VALUATION EXPERT
What characteristics and support does the effective valuation expert provide to the board of directors in corporate securities litigation that is a tremendous asset in the case?
On his website, child abuse expert witness Dr. Michael R. Weinraub, FAAP, explains Abusive Head Trauma. Dr. Weinraub is a Board Certified Pediatrician with three decades of clinical practice experience.
Formerly called Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) this form of child abuse is now called Abusive Head Trauma (AHT). While protecting children from infancy onwards from abusive head trauma (AHT) is of primary importance, recent concerns have been raised in specific cases about the degree of medical certainty of AHT as a diagnosis where a broader differential diagnosis may offer explanations of the findings that are not due to abuse.
A standard of care medical work-up of a case of suspected AHT starts with a medical history including a determination of when the child was last well, if ever; a physical examination and review of prior physical examinations and other findings in the medical records; and consideration of current laboratory and radiology findings resulting in a differential diagnosis. This differential diagnosis consideration of various medical conditions as well as of the timing of the findings will assist the physician in forming an opinion of the causation of these findings. For example, findings of brain swelling may arise from an abusive event or may be secondary to a medical condition such as a seizure that caused hypoxic brain injury and swelling. In the process of a medical work-up, one medical explanation may offer the most reasonable explanation for the findings or a medical explanation may offer a reasonable explanation of the findings equally as well as an abusive cause.
In EFFECTIVE VALUATION & LITIGATION SUPPORT IN CORPORATE SECURITIES LAWSUITS, forensic accounting expert witness Richard M. Squar, CPA, CVA, ABV, CFF, MBA-Taxation, writes:
In conjunction with statutory definitions of value, additional levels of value are analyzed for their applicability.
FURTHER LEVELS OF VALUE
In Evaluting An Expert Witness For School Safety Cases, school safety expert witness Michael Dorn writes:
Questions to Ask a Potential Expert Witness for School Safety Cases
…Top experts usually welcome and respect intelligent and careful clients who take the time to ensure the capabilities of the expert and the needs of the client are a good match. The most qualified experts know that the closer the prospective client looks, the better the expert witness will look compared to less qualified individuals. Though some experts might answer these questions untruthfully, an attorney might be able to recover damages from the expert if the case is lost due to the false claims of the expert.
In EFFECTIVE VALUATION & LITIGATION SUPPORT IN CORPORATE SECURITIES LAWSUITS, forensic accounting expert witness Richard M. Squar, CPA, CVA, ABV, CFF, MBA-Taxation, writes:
The appropriate standard of value to apply is where the expert often begins.
STANDARDS OF VALUE
In Expert Witness Fees Deferred Until Settlement of Case, Carson Nash Funding, Inc. explains how their company provides funding to expert witnesses that allows trial lawyers the ability to defer payment of expert witness expenses until their cases settle.
Expert witness expenses are one of the largest and most significant expenditures a trial attorney has to make. All case expenses are paid up front as the case progresses and trial lawyers are not compensated until the case settles.
Expert witness fees plus additional case expenses and practice overhead expenses create restricted budgets for trial lawyers and may limit their ability to accept new cases to expand their practice.
Demonstrative evidence expert witnesses may consult on courtroom exhibits, computer reconstruction, computer animation, forensic animation, and simulations. While demonstrative evidence is not real evidence, it illuminates the points being argued in court. In How to Build the Visual Foundation of Your Case, attorney Morgan Smith describes how to create simple yet effective graphics. Mr. Smith recently gave a presentation for the Melvin Belli seminar on trial practices, hosted by the Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association. He advises:
Start creating graphics to build the visual foundation of your case before the first depo is taken, so that you can go to depositions with a basic to-scale visual diagram of the incident scene. Then witnesses and experts can add in details.
Cogent Legal Blog, shares real-world advice about trial graphics, case presentations, legal tech and litigation strategy. “We blog to help attorneys make their case and manage their practice in the most effective and least stressful way possible. Who are we? Litigators like you.” Cogent Legal was voted “the best presentation provider” in Northern California for 2013 in The Recorder’s annual poll of law firms and legal services.
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