As only 3-5% of civil cases proceed to trial, the expert’s deposition has taken on increased importance. Experts who do not excel during their depositions are unlikely to be successful.
Here are 10 steps expert can use to excel during their deposition.
- Understand what you will and will not be offering opinions on.
- Be able to explain your opinions simply and directly.
- Be prepared to explain the methodology you used to form your opinions.
- Understand the theme of the case and the role you are being asked to perform.
- Know your expert report cold prior to your deposition.
- Be prepared to explain your assumptions.
- Do not interrupt counsel. Let him/her finish the question and then answer it.
- If you don’t know the answer, say so, and stop talking.
- Think before you start answering the question.
- Prepare with counsel and by yourself.
Attorney Brenda Fulmer will be speaking at the SEAK National Expert Witness Conference to be held on April 25-26, 2015 in Washington, DC.
How to Survive and Thrive at Your Deposition
Brenda Fulmer, Esq.
Attorney Fulmer will discuss the skills, techniques, and strategies that expert witnesses can use to excel at their deposition. She will review the goals of counsel at discovery, trial, and deposition and how these depositions can be used by counsel. She will explain the roles of preparation, advocacy, clarity, believability, and credibility of the expert witness at deposition. Atty. Fulmer will demonstrate, with video, what does and does not work at deposition. She will offer practical advice for experts.
Brenda Fulmer Esq. is a shareholder with the law firm of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, one of the largest personal injury law firms in Florida. For the past 20 years, her practice has focused on the areas of pharmaceutical and medical device mass torts litigation. Over the years, she has represented thousands of claimants in individual actions filed in state and federal courts She has been named one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers by the American Trial Lawyers Association, selected as a Super Lawyer from Florida, and included in The Best Lawyers in America.