Posts discussing how to best manage and grow an expert witness practice.
By James J. Mangraviti, Jr., Esq. Proper preparation is an absolute requirement to for an expert witness to excel during cross-examination. Proper preparation includes a pre-trial meeting with retaining counsel and preparation done by the expert witness on her own. During the pre-trial meeting with retaining counsel the expert should: • get a read on opposing [...]
By James J. Mangraviti, Jr., Esq. Most trial lawyers will start their investigation of an opposing expert witness by obtaining any and all past and present copies of the expert’s curriculum vitae (CV). Many experts have more than one CV. A possible danger is that the use of multiple CVs by an expert witness may [...]
By James J. Mangraviti, Jr. One of the most common sets of questions we receive from our expert witness clients have to do with collections: “I am having trouble getting paid as an expert witness, what do I do?” “How can an expert witness make retaining counsel pay what he/she is owed?” “What do I [...]
Forensic psychiatrists are increasingly facing Daubert challenges. In working with expert witnesses and particularly forensic psychiatrists, it has become clear that more and more forensic psychiatrists are being faced with Daubert challenges. The good news for the experts is that many of these challenges ultimately fail. These experts still have to go through the time [...]
Can an engineering expert witness offer his alternative design opinion without performing research and testing? The court in ELAINE BENJAMIN, v. THE FOSDICK MACHINE TOOL COMPANY, No. 11-CV-00571-JJM. United States District Court, W.D. New York. April 22, 2015 dealt with the plaintiff who got her hand entangled in a spinning reamer tool attached to an [...]
The Louisiana Court in the case of THE ESTATE OF LOUIS D. HAEUSER, v. WESTCHESTER SURPLUS LINES INSURANCE COMPANY, Civil Action No. 13-5631 United States District Court, E.D. Louisiana (March 10, 2015) dealt with a bad faith insurance claim as a result of Hurricane Isaac. The Court denied an attempt to halt discovery of a [...]
How far can opposing counsel go in trying to demonstrate bias of an expert witness? The rules may vary from state to state. In Jordan Grabel, M.D., and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, v. Linda Sterrett and Michael Sterrett, No. 4D14-4780 District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District, April 29, 2015 the court [...]
Expert Witnesses want to be aware of the latest technology employed by lawyers used to test arguments and evidence. The MIT Technology Review V. 118 No. 3 May/June 2015 ran a very interesting article entitles “path of persuasion.” Here is what trial lawyers are now doing to test out their cases and evidence: Pretrial Technology [...]
Overly protective gatekeepers are costing medical and other expert witnesses millions of dollars per year. If this seems to you to be a bit of an overstatement let’s look at one recent example we encountered at SEAK. Case Example We received a call from an attorney at a large law firm. He located an expert [...]
The most common problem that expert witnesses face is non-payment or slow payment of their fees by lawyers who retain them. Many of these expert witnesses do not have a written retention contract signed by counsel. Example I was recently contacted by an expert witness who was asked to investigate a claim and write a [...]