Expert Witness Blog
Practical guidance for expert witnesses — testimony, report writing, depositions, fees and building a successful practice.
February 6, 2013
Why having retaining counsel phrasing and writing an expert report can be a problem
Here is an example which arose at an unscripted demonstration during a recent live SEAK expert witness training.
Expert Witness Reports By: Steven Babitsky, Esq. Expert witnesses are getting more and more “help” from retaining counsel in phrasing and writing their reports. Counsel will often include legal terms or phrases in the expert’s report to make sure it is legally sufficient and can withstand scrutiny. The problem for expert witnesses arises when they have been poorly prepared to
Read moreJanuary 9, 2013
Expert Opinion
To get a sense of the diverse range of expert opinions being offered, you can browse the expert witness specialties and profiles in SEAK’s National Expert Witness Directory
Expert Opinion Normally, witnesses in a trial are limited to testifying to what they have perceived. That is, what they saw, smelled, tasted, heard, etc. An expert witness is a special kind of witness. An expert witness can offer an expert opinion when testifying. Expert witness testimony is governed by Federal Rule of Evidence 702, which states: Rule 702. Testimony
Read moreDecember 19, 2012
How to Draft an Expert Witness Disclosure or Expert Witness Declaration
Expert witness disclosures should be carefully drafted as these can be used against the expert witness in the case at hand or other future cases.
Free Whitepaper: How to Draft a Powerful, Persuasive, and Understandable Expert Witness Report Depending upon the jurisdiction, expert witnesses may be required to draft and sign an expert witness disclosure or expert witness declaration. The expert can find out what the disclosure or declaration needs to contain by asking retaining counsel. Expert witness disclosures should be carefully drafted as these disclosures can
Read moreDecember 19, 2012
Expert Witness Report Example
When drafting an expert report, it is often helpful to review model reports prepared by other expert witnesses. The following expert witness report example is excerpted from SEAK’s text
Expert Witness Report Example Free Whitepaper: How to Draft a Powerful, Persuasive, and Understandable Expert Witness Report ——————————————————————————————— Below is an example of an expert witness report: The following represents my Rule 26 Report in the matter of Hurt v. Brown & Drecker. It is based on review of materials submitted to me by your office (enumerated later),
Read moreDecember 13, 2012
The Ideal Expert Witness Report Format
Expert witnesses should strive to write the best expert witness report possible. A solid report will immensely help the expert witness’s brand.
There is no such thing as a one-size fits all, ideal expert witness report format. Every case is different and every expert witness is different. Indeed, in many cases, retaining counsel may not even want their expert witness to write a report at all. That said, below is a sample expert witness report example outline: Cover Page Assignment Qualifications of
Read moreDecember 7, 2012
How to Draft Your First Expert Witness Report
One of the key functions of an expert witness is to draft an expert witness report. A typical expert witness report should contain...
How to Draft Your First Expert Witness Report One of the key functions of an expert witness is to draft an expert witness report. There is generally no strict requirement for a particular expert witness report format. A typical expert witness report example may contain: 1. The expert witness assignment (i.e. the role of an expert witness in the case
Read more