Expert Witness Blog

Testimony

Practical guidance for expert witnesses — testimony, report writing, depositions, fees and building a successful practice.

September 27, 2019

Studying Opposing Counsel: Preparing for Your Expert Deposition

Expert witnesses who are to be deposed in challenging cases should consider studying the style of opposing counsel. Expert witnesses of all disciplines, from accident reconstruction to wound care should go beyond looking at counsel’s webpage and maybe a few of her publications. Expert witnesses, with the assistance of retaining counsel, should obtain deposition transcripts/videos of opposing counsel deposing experts

September 13, 2019

The Most Important Question: Preparing Your Expert Witness for Deposition

Steven Babitsky, Esq. Attorneys who are preparing their expert witness for deposition frequently start with the key aspects of the expert’s anticipated testimony (e.g. opinions, methodologies, etc.). One often overlooked key question is: What are you most concerned about? All expert witnesses, including experienced ones, come to their deposition with concerns, fears, anxieties, etc. These should be dealt with before

August 26, 2019

20 Questions Expert Witnesses Should Ask Retaining Counsel Before Testifying at Deposition

Before testifying at deposition, expert witnesses should request a preparation session with retaining counsel. To make deposition preparation more productive, the expert should have a list of questions ready to ask counsel. Attorney Nadine Nasser Donovan, writing for SEAK, recommends the following 20 questions as a starting point: 1. Do I have everything? 2. What have you told the other

August 26, 2019

How to Avoid Exclusion of Your Expert Witness Opinions

Expert witnesses are increasingly facing Daubert and other challenges to their expert witness testimony and opinions. What can expert witnesses to do to increase the likelihood that their testimony will survive such challenges? Attorney Adam Bain, writing for SEAK, provides four tips to prevent exclusion of your expert witness opinions. (1) Ensure that you have enough information to reach your

August 23, 2019

Tips from the Bench for Expert Witnesses

Judge Susan Burke, writing for SEAK, offers the following tips for expert witnesses: 1. Highlight Your Relevant Qualifications • Do not ramble on about every residency, professional association, honor, and peer reviewed article. • Focus on relevant experience. • Include memorable experience if possible. • The goal is to demonstrate to the jury that you are so knowledgeable you cannot

August 9, 2019

The Most Common Mistakes Expert Witnesses Make at Deposition

Even experienced experts can improve their deposition performance by avoiding these common mistakes: 1. Not Actively Listening Many experts do not effectively employ active listening skills at their deposition. Hearing and understanding each and every word in the question is crucial. If you do not understand a question, you should not answer it. 2. Interrupting Counsel Some experts behave as

August 7, 2019

EXCELLING AT EXPERT WITNESS DIRECT EXAMINATION: A CHECKLIST FOR EXPERTS

While direct examination is not as emotionally challenging as cross-examination, direct examination is often more difficult for an expert to excel at than cross. During direct examination, the expert must explain material that may be highly complex or dry to a lay audience — the jury. The expert must do so persuasively, but without appearing to be an advocate. Proper

August 7, 2019

10 Questions Expert Witnesses Need to be Able to Answer at Deposition and Trial

By: Jessica Mahon Scoles, Esq. An expert witness who will be testifying, whether it is at deposition or trial, should be prepared to deal with these 10 routine areas of inquiry. 1. Bias Experts will be cross-examined about their real or imagined bias. Counsel who can demonstrate or raise doubts about the expert’s bias can quickly destroy the credibility of

November 7, 2017

Expert Witness in Patent Case: Person of Ordinary Skill in Art (POSA) – a Pitfall

It doesn’t say inflatable, but it says this other word…I can’t think of a synonym for inflatable, but another word for inflatable and that means…a person who’s skilled in the art, again, POSA, would know that that was inflatable, and so it’s disclosing that, and it’s disclosing that it’s orange even though it doesn’t say orange, and it’s disclosing that

November 7, 2017

Time Limits at U.S. District Court Trials for Patent Expert Witnesses

Excerpted from SEAK’s Course: How to Excel as an Expert Witness in Patent Cases: Special Techniques Okay, let’s talk about direct examination. We have, like, an hour left. One of the things that I noted when I was doing research for this course…I looked at a survey that Law 360 did, which is a law website, and they did a