Articles Posted in Trial Strategy

In Fastcase Offers New Features and Services, Internet For Lawyers principal Carole Levitt writes:

On a recent visit to Fastcase, I noticed a number of new features and services available for users.

Alerts

Legal nurse consultant expert witnesses may testify on general nursing, surgical nursing, palliative care, and medical record review, as well as related issues. In “Nurse experts: Are YOU prepared for cross-examination?” by Juris Educational Resource Knowledge guest blogger Lori Combs RN, LNC, writes that “Extensive preparation is needed to ensure the expert is well versed with the case and is prepared for the dreaded cross-examination.”

According to Jim McElhaney (2011), a Litigation Columnist at the ABA Journal, there are eight ways to cross-examine a witness, both expert and lay[1]. First stated is that opposing counsel (OC) is going to try and make the witness their witness. They will try to get them to speak on their clients behalf instead of going at them head on in a defense attack. This occurs when the OC switches the questioning around so that you, as the LNC witness, will be talking about their client in a manner that is more beneficial to their issues.

More: http://www.thejerklnc.com/blog/?p=1673

Livestock expert witnesses may advise regarding livestock accidents, farming, and livestock production. In livestock cases ranch owners have been found negligent when farm fencing was not properly maintained resulting in farm animals wandering onto a highway and causing an accident. Livestock accidents also include the deaths of farmers killed each year in cattle-related deaths after blunt force trauma to the head or chest. OSHA.com writes that “According to the National Safety Council, agriculture is the most hazardous industry in the nation.”

In Use of Experts in Livestock Accident Cases, attorney Edward A. Smith writes that “livestock accidents are amongst the cases most commonly mishandled by inexperienced attorneys.” Mr. Smith considers it “crucial that a lawyer handling these cases has the proper experts immediately available for use, including investigators, fencing experts and animal behaviorists.”

At ABAJournal.com, McElhaney on Litigation, Jim McElhaney writes: Enter Angus: His Initial Words of Wisdom Focus on Cross-Examining Expert Witnesses. McElhaney spent 25 years as a litigation columnist for the ABA Journal and in this article he discusses ways to cross examine an expert, including MAKE HIM YOUR WITNESS.

Read the article: abajournal.com

Jim McElhaney is the Baker and Hostetler Distinguished Scholar in Trial Practice at Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland and the Joseph C. Hutcheson Distinguished Lecturer in Trial Advocacy at South Texas College of Law in Houston.

In Finding the Cream of the Crop: Hiring an Expert Witness construction site expert witness William Gulya, Jr., President & CEO, Middlesex Trenching Company, writes:

There are multiple ways to locate the expert you need, such as referral agencies, online and print directories, and searching by keyword on the Internet. When you find an expert who at first glance seems to be what you are looking for, contact them and delve deeper into his or her qualifications. The responsibility to verify that the expert is qualified and will meet your case needs is yours. Be sure to investigate the background of the expert, and ask for references. Once you have located several names by any of the above methods and have performed your due diligence, how do you decide which expert is really what you are looking for, the right one for you and your particular case?

Interviewing the Expert

Legal nurse consultant expert witnesses may testify on general nursing, surgical nursing, palliative care, and medical record review, as well as related issues. In “Nurse experts: Are YOU prepared for cross-examination?” by Juris Educational Resource Knowledge guest blogger Lori Combs RN, LNC, writes that “Extensive preparation is needed to ensure the expert is well versed with the case and is prepared for the dreaded cross-examination.”

No matter how well prepared you are to testify as an expert, the cross-examination by the opposing counsel can be intimidating. There are many tricks and techniques the opposing side will utilize to try to discredit you and “poke you full of holes”, but if you can prepare yourself to think how they are going to cross-examine you, you can remain one step ahead and hold your ground.

More: http://www.thejerklnc.com/blog/?p=1673

Legal fees expert witnesses may advise regarding attorneys’ fees, expert witness fees analysis, and fee disputes, and more. In The determination of expert witness fees/attorney fees, and the same as taxable costs, Judge David Hoort, Ionia County, MI, writes:

Expert witnesses may be paid a fee in excess of the fee paid to an ordinary witness with the trial court’s permission and that the fee paid to the expert witness may be taxed as part of the taxable costs. MCL 600.2164(1). An expert is not, however, entitled to compensation-as a witness-for every service that the expert may have provided.

Read more: http://judgedavidhoort.blogspot.com/

In Use Experts Early, J. Patrick McConnell, Odin Feldman Pittleman Law Firm, writes:

Many of the divorce cases we handle involve closely held businesses, complicated banking transactions, commingling of separate and marital funds and difficult financial issues. The rules in most courts require the disclosure of expert witnesses and what they are going to say at a fairly early stage in the litigation. Too often practitioners wait too late to designate expert witnesses and they are blocked by the Courts from using experts.

Read more: http://www.virginiadivorceandcustodylaw.com

In Seven Costly Mistakes Attorneys Make With Medical Negligence Cases, Dr. Burton Bentley of Elite Medical Experts LLC writes:

Although the rate of negligence claims against medical providers has begun to level off, the cost of litigating these actions has risen dramatically. Vast amounts of time and money are lost when attorneys – whether retained by plaintiff or defense – pursue a non-meritorious case or litigate a worthy case inefficiently. Beware of the following costly errors:

MISTAKE #6: INCOMPLETELY ANALYZING EVERY REFERENCE ARTICLE CITED BY THE OPPOSING EXPERT.

In Seven Costly Mistakes Attorneys Make With Medical Negligence Cases, Dr. Burton Bentley of Elite Medical Experts LLC writes:

Although the rate of negligence claims against medical providers has begun to level off, the cost of litigating these actions has risen dramatically. Vast amounts of time and money are lost when attorneys – whether retained by plaintiff or defense – pursue a non-meritorious case or litigate a worthy case inefficiently. Beware of the following costly errors:

MISTAKE #5: MISSING THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE DIFFICULT CASES INDEPENDENTLY REVIEWED BY A NON-TESTIFYING EXPERT.