Expert Witness Blog
In EVALUATING AN EXPERT WITNESS FOR SCHOOL SAFETY CASES, school safety expert witness Michael Dorn writes:
Purpose of this paper This document is designed to help legal risk management practitioners who must evaluate the match between an expert and a school safety court case. Court cases involving school safety issues are extremely important because they can at times involve not only millions of dollars, but also have a major impact on the lives of victims, surviving family members as well as the people and organizations named as defendants. For example, a student who incurs serious permanent injury may require millions of dollars in future medical care over a lifetime. At the same time, serious allegations of misconduct or negligence can affect the lives and reputations of school officials, public safety officials and school organizations named as defendants.
This article provides a list of questions attorneys may want to ask an expert witness before deciding to retain the expert as well as tips for evaluating an expert witness retained by opposing counsel. This information should be helpful to insurance professionals and judges who are tasked with determining if an expert is properly qualified for a particular case. As a non-profit school safety center, the goal of Safe Havens International is to help make schools safer, more effective places to learn and to work. Efficient and fair resolution of legal disputes relating to school safety situations supports these goals.