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JurisPro, the national expert witness directory built by practicing attorneys, is now directly accessible through the internal network of 12 of the top 20 law firms in the US. The newest firm to take advantage of JurisPro’s database of experts in over 4500 fields of expertise is Sidley & Austin LLP, the #5 law firm in the United States. With 1800 lawyers, Sidley has annual revenues of more than one billion dollars and offices in 16 cities worldwide.

At JurisPro, you can read and the expert’s full CV, see their photo, hear the expert speak, learn their background as an expert witness, read their articles, access that expert’s website, and contact that expert by phone, mail, fax, or e-mail. There are no charges to use JurisPro, and no referral fees.

An interesting Sidley & Austin bit of history:

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Ever wonder and/or worry about what would happen if your car was stolen? Rob Painter, forensic locksmith, automotive expert witness, and principal of Rob Painter & Associates, can tell you. He writes:

It’s a common occurrence especially now with the factory anti-theft systems for the insurance company to assign an examination of the reported stolen vehicle to a forensic locksmith. His purpose is to check for forced entry and to determine if the vehicle was key operated last. They will assemble what they call a “Forensic Report” on the vehicle and will commonly use general statements like “The last time the vehicle was operated was with a key of the proper type.”

Sounds good, but let’s look at this in further depth. “Proper type” could be anything that will operate the lock. It could be a pick, a duplicate key or no key at all. The reason the term “proper” is used is that I believe this does not lock the forensic locksmith into an exact statement, although the terminology infers the last time the vehicle was operated was with nothing other than the insured’s key. Now if the scientific process was used and all hypotheses have been eliminated, the examiner should be able to state that the last time the vehicle operated under its own power was with a key of exacting cuts coinciding with the ignition lock cylinder.

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In A Look at Art Experts’ Liabilities John Dratz Jr. discusses the appraisal and valuation expert witness’s role in authenticating and appraising works of art.

A thriving international art market has led to an equally robust industry of art authenicators and appraisers. But as recent court cases illustrate, people holding themselves out as such experts may face liabillty under an increasing number of theories when their opinions are challenged…

The most common theory on which to base a case against an art authenticator or appraiser is negligence. Such claims require proof that the defendant failed to provide a reasonable level of care to a plaintiff to which it was owed. This duty could arise from a contractual relationship between the plaintiff and the authenticator or appraiser in a number of different situations.

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In Test to Spot Liars Takes Center Stage in Personal Injury Cases Debra Cassens Weiss writes for the ABA Journal on personal injury expert witnesses using the “Fake Bad Scale”:

Expert witnesses are citing a test designed to spot those who are faking their pain in hundreds of court cases, prompting debate about its reliability.

The so-called Fake Bad Scale was added to the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory last year, leading to its increasing use by expert witnesses in personal injury cases, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.). The MMPI is often used to diagnose and treat patients at mental-health facilities.

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A Los Angeles prosecutor told the court this week that Anthony Pellicano masterminded a “thriving criminal enterprise” that used illegal wiretapping and bribery to solve the legal problems of Hollywood’s rich and famous. Pellicano is accused of running a criminal service that bugged phones and bribed police and telephone workers to run illegal background checks. Pellicano has been refused bail and is representing himself. Ironically, before his indictment, Pellicano was often called on by law enforcement as an audio expert witness on recordings. The Telegraph reports:

“Primarily what I did was to serve clients in problem solving,” the investigator said in his opening statement.

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The leading expert witness for National Century Financial Enterprises executives accused of the nation’s largest private fraud also had talked with the FBI about fraudulent business at the company. Computer expert witness Bryant testified about work he did analyzing National Century’s computer system. Crashes in nine of the company’s hard drives, discovered years after National Century filed for bankruptcy, made it impossible for anyone to make conclusions about the company’s data, Bryant told the jury. But Bryant also had met with the FBI and handed over National Century documents he had secretly stored at his house. He did not disclose that to defense attorneys before federal Judge Algenon L. Marbley declared him an “expert witness” for the defense. Dispatch.com also writes:

Former National Century executives Parrett, Ayers, James E. Dierker, Roger S. Faulkenberry and Randolph H. Speer are charged with fraud, securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

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In Testimony From Experts In Demand Tyler Kekewich of the Financial Post describes expert witnesses:

You’ve seen them in movies and watched them on television. They are the superstars of a trial and their testimony can make or break a lawyer’s case. They’re expert witnesses — from coroners to accountants, engineers and scientists — and judges and juries hang on their every word. They can be the difference between acquittal or conviction or reaping a huge damage award versus being left with nothing but a big legal bill to pay.

Kekewich also shares the five traits of a successful expert witness:

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James Ziliak, director of the University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research, testified Tuesday as a nutrition expert witness before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging in Washington, D.C. UKy.edu also reports Ziliak is expected:

… to provide expert witness testimony on hunger among senior citizens in America. During the testimony, Ziliak will deliver results of research he conducted with co-investigator Craig Gundersen of Iowa State University on the causes, consequences, and future of senior hunger.

The two recently completed a major research initiative funded by the Meals on Wheels Association of America Foundation and underwritten by Harrah’s Foundation. Ziliak is one of six invited witnesses who will speak before the committee. Other expert witnesses include officials from the U.S. Administration on Aging, Department of Agriculture, a volunteer with the Meals on Wheels program, and a representative of the Harrah’s Foundation

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Expert witness Dr. Douglas Zusman testified this week in the wrongful-death suit filed by John Ritter’s family. The cardiology expert witness said Ritter had a ‘lethal’ tear of the aorta. Zusman testified that Ritter was too far gone for the emergency surgery performed the night he died. Zusman has performed 8,000 surgeries on the aorta and described the procedure to repair a torn aorta, aortic dissection, as long and difficult.

Ledger.com reports that the lawsuit was filed against two doctors involved in the actor’s care, Dr. Joseph Lee, the cardiologist who treated him that night, and Dr. Matthew Lotysch, a radiologist who performed a body scan on Ritter two years earlier and allegedly did not discover an enlarged aorta.

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Gustov ‘Bud’ Clark, prosecution expert witness in the death of Francisco Javier Dominguez, testified on how Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Corbett could have shot and killed the 22-year-old Mexican national. The law enforcement expert witness told jurors in federal court Friday about ‘sympathetic squeeze.’ The Arizona Department of Public Safety expert said it means if a gun is held in one hand, and the other grabs something, you’ll likely pull the trigger, as a reflex. Clark told jurors that in video training sessions with Border Patrol agents, when a scenario is presented where a suspected illegal entrant is holding a rock, the agents are trained to back up but nothing in the surveillance video indicates that Corbett backed away from Dominguez.