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In How Attorneys Can Best Utilize Their Medical Expert Witness: A Medical Expert’s Perspective, Dr. Vernon M. Neppe MD, PhD, FRSSAf, FAPA, writes that expert witness testimony depends on finding an appropriate match for your case. This excerpt deals with credibility of your expert.

Choices are complicated by knowing that a credible expert will express an honest opinion. This may lead to the expert expressing an opinion that is unfavorable to the particular case. However, this may not be a disadvantage. The key is knowing your case’s strengths and limitations.

You should respect your expert’s thoughts. (S)He is generally trying to assist you, and his / her adverse opinion usually is well founded. If the expert’s opinion is entirely adverse, this may be a reason not to declare him / her further and find another expert provided a gray zone of opinion legitimately exists for that issue. On the other hand, it may be a strong clue, unless there are other cogent circumstances, to cut one’s losses and to settle the case or not bring it to trial or even not to file it.

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In How Attorneys Can Best Utilize Their Medical Expert Witness: A Medical Expert’s Perspective, Dr. Vernon M. Neppe MD, PhD, FRSSAf, FAPA, writes that expert witness testimony begins by finding an appropriate match.

Clearly there are specifics that lead some experts to be retained above others. Expertise in a health care specialty is only one component to consider. Respect in the medical discipline is often a major index of success as an expert. The components of such esteem are predicated on peer respect, appropriate qualifications and recognition in the area.

Several other qualities should be relatively self-evident, but appear commonly neglected. All

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In How Attorneys Can Best Utilize Their Medical Expert Witness: A Medical Expert’s Perspective, Dr. Vernon M. Neppe MD, PhD, FRSSAf, FAPA, writes that expert witness testimony begins by finding an appropriate match.

Finding the correct medicolegal expert for a case is clearly dependent on, not only their expertise in the area, but their forensic proficiency at review, advisory and testamentary levels, as well as the respect they will command, their geographic location and the costs involved. Attorneys have to find medicolegal experts very carefully. Choices not only relate to skills in court, but the assistance that can be given prior to any testimony.

In choosing, one should create a list of what is needed and a shortlist of who can fill that role. You should list the strengths and limitations of your potential expert. This involves not only knowledge and expertise with the specific medical problems being analyzed, but skills such as incisive thinking, quick responsiveness, communication skills, responsibility, integrity and ability to work efficiently but rapidly.

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Law and legal expert witness Stephen Saltzburg told the House Judiciary Committee Thursday that the CIA’s official explanation for destroying at least two videotapes depicting severe interrogation techniques “fails the straight-face test.” Expert witness Saltzburg is general counsel for the National Institute of Military Justice and a George Washington University Law School professor. RawStory.com also writes:

‘The rationale for destroying the tapes to protect the identity of the interrogators is almost as embarrassing as the destruction itself,’ said Saltzberg. He said that the tapes could easily have been modified to obscure the faces of those involved, and that regardless, the CIA keeps a written record of which officers interrogated detainees.

‘And so the explanation for destruction fails the straight-face test,’ he said. “The only plausible explanation, I believe, is that the CIA wanted to assure that those tapes would never be seen by any judicial tribunal — not even a military commission — and they would never be seen by a committee of Congress.’

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Crookston, MN Police Officer Donald Rasicot was found not guilty Wednesday of misconduct and assault during a 2006 arrest of a drunken man. The man’s injuries were not consistent with a kick to the head, according to police procedures expert witness, Joe Dutton, a 30-year veteran of the Golden Valley Police Department who has trained thousands of law enforcement officers, including FBI agents, on proper use of force. He was the final expert witness and said Rasicot used appropriate force and that he would have done the same in similar circumstances. GrandForksHerald.com reports the:

Former Marine and veteran police officer who has been in trouble once before over his use of force, Rasicot faced possible time behind bars. He was charged early this year with two counts of misconduct by a public officer, both gross misdemeanors, and a count of fifth-degree assault, a misdemeanor. The first two counts each carried a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine. The charges came from allegations made by Jason Knutson, 24, Crookston, after Rasicot arrested him in August of last year.

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In Get the Most From Engineering Experts, Christopher L. Brinkley writes on how thorough preparation of engineering expert witnesses is the key to winning your case. In this excerpt Brinkley discusses the reliability of the expert witness’s work.

The reliability of an engineer’s work may also be supported by testimony from defense witnesses. The defendant’s in-house engineers and testifying expert should be questioned regarding the processes they followed in drawing their conclusions about the product and the materials on which they relied in performing their work. When the engineering experts testfiying on behalf of both the plaintiff and the defendant have used the same type of methodology and data, you can make the inference that the work is reliable, notwithstanding any difference in the ultimate conclusions.

More to follow…….

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In Get the Most From Engineering Experts, Christopher L. Brinkley writes on how thorough preparation of engineering expert witnesses is the key to winning your case. In this excerpt Brinkley discusses challenges you may face regarding their expert witness testimony.

It is good practice for the expert to conduct his or her analyses in a manner that will satisfy a Daubert challenge. The expert should rely on materials and methods that are used by engineers working in the relevant industry. These include:

6) raw test data, test reports, applicable test protocols, photographs and videotapes, and equipment calibration reports 7) mathematical formulas, input data, and calculations preformed 8) notes, photographs, videotapes, and other materials related to inspections, measurements, examinations, or analyses 8) other factual information relevant to the engineer’s analysis 10) diagrams, animations, models, charts, or illustrations of the engineer’s work and the underlying engineering concepts.

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In Get the Most From Engineering Experts, Christopher L. Brinkley writes on how thorough preparation of engineering expert witnesses is the key to winning your case. In this excerpt Brinkley discusses challenges you may face regarding their expert witness testimony.

It is good practice for the expert to conduct his or her analyses in a manner that will satisfy a Daubert challenge. The expert should rely on materials and methods that are used by engineers working in the relevant industry. These include:

1) industry or government treatises, studies, and other publications referencing applicable engineering principals 2) engineering and design and performance standards related to the product at issue 3) engineering reports and drawings related to the product at issue, similar products, and products with alternative designs 4) patents related to the product at issue and improved designs

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In Get the Most From Engineering Experts, Christopher L. Brinkley writes on how thorough preparation of engineering expert witnesses is the key to winning your case. In this excerpt Brinkley discusses challenges you may face regarding their expert witness testimony.

As a threshold matter, engineering experts must satisfy the jurisdiction’s criteria for the admissibility of expert testimony and must support their work accordingly. In the federal courts, Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and the Daubert trilogy of cases provide the prerequisites for admissibility. Under Daubert, expert evidence must be relevant and based on sound reasoning and methods. To determine if an expert’s analysis is reliable, the trial court must consider whether the underlying methodology has been tested, has been subjected to peer review and publication, has an identifiable error rate, has standards controlling the application of the technique, and has been generally accepted in the field.

Excerpted from Trial Magazine, November 2007

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In Get the Most From Engineering Experts, Christopher L. Brinkley writes on how thorough preparation of engineering expert witnesses is the key to winning your case. In this excerpt Brinkley discusses challenges you may face regarding their expert witness testimony.

Virtually every products liability case requires the assistance of one or more experts in the field of engineering. To use thse expert effectively at trial, you must be prepared to contront and overcome the unique legal and practical challenges associated with their testimony.

The law views expert engineering evidence from a unique perspective. Whether an engineer’s work constitutes sound practice within the engineering community is often of secondary importance to how the law evaluates the engineer’s methodology. As a result, you must make sure your engineering experts are aware of the procedural and substantive law that is applicable to their testimony.

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