Expert Witness Blog

In Optimizing Your Use of Banking and Financial Institution Experts, banking expert witness Michael F. Richards writes:

Selecting the right expert is important, but also optimizing their use is just as important. Following are areas that should be considered and explored. I will not elaborate on each item, as there are numerous articles written with great detail, but highlight the areas I feel can be optimized.

Selecting The Right Expert Focus on the background of the expert. Banking includes many specialized areas that include but are not limited to lending in the following areas; commercial credit, consumer credit, agricultural credit, mortgage lending, manufactured housing, factoring, construction lending, dealer financing, recreational vehicle financing, land development, participations, credit cards, and merchant credit. On the operational side of the bank they include but are not limited to the following areas; teller transactions, checking and savings products, ATM transactions, wire transfers, ACH transactions, processing of checks and deposits, and safe deposit boxes, just to name a few. Over the last several years numerous transactions have gone paperless. Many of the regional and larger financial institutions have special departments that only handle specific types of transactions. When I has hired by Crocker Bank back in the mid 70’s as an officer trainee, we spent a year in training going through all departments of the bank before we were ever allowed to handle customers without supervision. Most of the larger financial institutions had similar training programs. What you see today is much different. Many bank employees only have training in their department and are unaware of what goes on in other areas of the bank. Make sure the expert that is engaged has the background and experience for the specific areas that your case involves. Just because he/she was a banker, doesn’t mean they have the expertise your case requires.

In Preparing and Presenting Expert Testimony, traffic engineer and accident reconstruction expert witness Lawrence Levine writes:

Enough cannot be said about this conflict between expert engineer and his employer (in the case of an agency) or the party to which he consults. The most valuable information an expert can give an attorney is first, to be absolutely and completely honest about all aspects of a case. It is very rare that there are not two sides to an issue. This is where the judge and jury come into play; they are the final arbiters. Their task is to determine which facts are to be accepted and which information is to be ignored, and the amount weight to be given to each expert’s opinion.

However, it is essential that the lawyer know and trust in his expert’s “unbiased” and “unlimited” view of the case. Agencies may try to save money by using in-house personnel as expert witnesses on cases, but this should be approached with great caution. After all, this same expert could have some involvement in the creation of the situation, and certainly has a stake in the outcome. This bias hurts the agency’s reputation or costs them funding resources. Also the expert employee who wishes to protect their employer may approach a case with tunnel vision and thereby limit the agency attorney’s view of the case, both good and bad. The reason why most agencies seek outside consultants is to ensure an unbiased view of the case.

Auto insurance claims expert witnesses may opine on policies, auto repairs, and injury claims. In Who is at Fault? Auto Insurance Claim Advice writes:

Learn How Insurance Companies Determine Fault

Who is at fault for the accident? How does a claim adjuster determine that you are at fault? While we are answering these questions, we can also ask, “How does a judge, an attorney, an arbitrator, or a jury determine that someone is at fault or “more” at fault than someone else?”

In Are You Waiting Too Long To Hire An Expert?, construction site expert witness William Gulya, Jr., President & CEO, Middlesex Trenching Company, writes:

Once the need for an expert becomes inevitable through fact pattern or because your adversary has made the choice for you by their strategy to use an expert, you should retain and consult with your expert as soon as possible. The earlier the expert is involved in the case the faster they become thoroughly familiar with significant facts. This advantage will often expose elements of your case that you may not have considered initially. Your expert should be able to give you an objective and detailed analysis of both the strengths and vulnerabilities that may be faced, specific to the areas of his or her expertise.

Waiting to choose an expert until later in the process runs the risk of being unable to retain the best candidate for your particular litigation. The most frustrating situation you can put your expert witness in is with a request to review extensive materials in an unrealistic timeline and often where experts on the other side have been in place for some time and thus have a distinct advantage.

Construction expert witnesses may testify on construction management, construction standards of care, construction cost estimates, and more. Here, San Francisco construction expert says line-item billing can save money when remodeling:

Everyone knows that construction projects have a tendency to overrun their original estimates. Steven Donnelly, owner of San Francisco green builder House to Home, says that in these tough economic times it’s more important than ever for people considering remodeling their homes to make sure that the quote they get will reflect what they actually have to pay. Finding a contractor who uses line-item billing is the best way to avoid having to shell out money for unexpected charges later on.

Construction projects can end up costing more than anticipated if the estimate doesn’t properly itemize the costs. Homeowners should make sure they get a detailed proposal that accounts for all the costs, not just ballpark estimates.

In Optimizing Your Use of Banking and Financial Institution Experts, banking expert witness Michael F. Richards writes:

The past year and a half I have been working as a Banking Expert Witness and have notices some areas where banking experts are not optimized. Since my expertise is in banking, I will limit my discussion to that area. Banking and Financial Institution are a heavily regulated industry with many different regulatory agencies overseeing the day-to-day operations. Some of these regulators, depending on the type of bank charter, include but are not limited to the following:

FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)