Steven Babitsky Esq. One of the biggest misconceptions about who can become an effective expert witness is that you need to be an extrovert to do this well. Over the course of my career I have talked to hundreds of experts in all fields who essentially said the same thing: “I am an introvert and [...]
The U.S. District Court (E.D Missouri) dealt with the plaintiff, Bayes, who sued a biomedical company, Biomet, for a defective hip implant. The defense sought to exclude the life care planner, Corwin, who is ACRC and a certified life care planner. The court denied the motion to exclude, stating that the methodology was sufficiently reliable. [...]
Steven Babitsky, Esq. Expert witnesses may find themselves working on a case for multiple attorneys who have the same client or clients with similar interests. In these cases, the attorneys may propose that they ‘share’ paying the expert for their services. The expert should seriously consider rejecting this proposal for the following reasons: Assuming that [...]
Steven Babitsky, Esq. Expert witnesses should check their own websites at least once per week to make sure that it is functioning properly. Recently, I was working with an expert witness client and asked him to visit the site of another client’s website. I was going to demonstrate what a good website looked like. I [...]
Steven Babitsky, Esq. The U.S. District Court (Alaska) dealt with a professor, Bloom, who proposed testifying "about incentives for snitches and cooperating witnesses . . . to aid the jury by giving a thorough background that they may determine the credibility of cooperating witnesses.” The court relied on Black Letter Law and held he would [...]
Steven Babitsky, Esq. The U.S. District Court E.D. Louisiana dealt with the Seaman, Compton, who was hit on the head by a falling object and suffered serious injuries. The defense filed a Daubert challenge to the testimony of David Paulis, PhD, an engineering expert who was to testify as to the forces involved when a [...]
The U.S. District Court of Appeals (3rd Cir) dealt with a condemnation proceeding under the Natural Gas Act. The court took this opportunity to clarify that Daubert does in fact apply in bench trials. The court stated: We start with a clarification about the role Rule 702 plays in bench trials. As we have explained, [...]
Steven Babitsky, Esq. The U.S. District Court of Appeals (3rd Cir) dealt with a Daubert Challenge to expert testimony in a condemnation proceeding. The court found that admitting the testimony was in error despite the fact that it was a bench trial. The court found the testimony was unreliable and stated: Take the reports. They [...]
Steven Babitsky, Esq. I was speaking with an expert witness and he described his problem at deposition: “I do very well generally at my depositions. I am well-prepared, know my stuff, and have experience. The problem is it takes me 20-30 minutes to warm up during my deposition, so in the beginning of them I [...]
One of the most important techniques trial lawyers are taught is how to control the expert witness during cross-examination. Attorney Phillip H. Miller explains this strategy: Cross-examination is not about a witness testifying; it is about the lawyer eliciting the desired testimony from the witness. Control the witness. If you feel you are not in [...]