How to Become a Successful Expert Witness
Expert Witnessing allows one to use his/her training, experience and education in a different way. The work is intellectually stimulating and consists of helping lawyers, judges, and jurors understand the evidence in a legal dispute. Experts are typically compensated at $250-$1,000/hr. SEAK offers a variety of training to help you become and excel as an expert witness.
Expert witnessing is a field where your reputation is all important. Your reputation will be based on the quality of your work product (reports, testimony, etc.) as well as how easy you are to deal with. Experts who develop excellent reputations often see their practices grow exponentially. On the other hand, experts who make avoidable mistakes can destroy their reputation and kill their practices.
Overview of Introductory, Core and Elective Expert Witness Training Available from SEAK to Help You Succeed
We recommend all experts (even experienced ones) start with SEAK’s foundational/introductory course “How to Start, Build, and Run a Successful Expert Witness”. This is SEAK’s most popular expert witness training program. You will be ready to start accepting cases immediately upon completion of the course. The course is available both online (stream on-demand) and live in-person.
After completing “How to Start, Build, and Run a Successful Expert Witness” and launching your practice, you will then want to get additional core curriculum training on how to write expert witness reports and how to testify effectively at deposition and trial. You typically do not need report writing and testifying training to get started as reports and testimony are usually due months or even years after you are engaged for an expert witness assignment.
If you are a medical doctor who will be testifying in medical malpractice cases, you should also take as a core course, How to Excel as an Expert Witness in Medical Malpractice Cases: Special Techniques.
SEAK also offers additional specialized electives to improve your skills and take your practice to the next level.
For a quick guide to SEAK’s Introductory, Core, and Elective expert witness training, please see below:
Introductory/Foundational Course
Recommended Core Report Writing and Testifying Skills Training Courses
- How to Write a Bulletproof Expert Report
Live in-Person or Via Zoom – 14 hours/Two Days
Plus either
- How to Be an Effective Expert Witness at Deposition and Trial
Survey Course Covering Both Deposition and Trial Skills; Live in-Person or via Zoom – 14 Hours/Two Days
OR
- How To Excel at Your Expert Witness Deposition
Live in-person or via Zoom – 14 Hours/Two Days Exclusively on Deposition skills
AND
How to Be a More Persuasive Expert Witness at Trial
Live in-person or via Zoom – 14 Hours/Two Days Exclusively on Trial skills
Additional Recommended Core Training for Medical Expert Witnesses Who May Testify in Medical Malpractice Cases
- How to Excel as an Expert Witness in Medical Malpractice Cases
Learn the many nuances of medical malpractice cases and how to avoid hidden pitfalls
Additional Elective Courses (for all experts)
- SEAK’s Annual National Expert Witness Conference
Learn how to deliver high quality opinions, reports and testimony from top judges, jury consultants, trial lawyers and expert witnesses. We have been running this Annual Conference since 1990. 14 Hours of presentations over two days. - Law For Experts
“Connects the dots” and shows you how a practical understanding of law procedure, and legal terminology will make you more effective and successful - How to Refine, Improve and Grow Your Expert Witness Practice
SEAK’s holistic guide to making your expert witness practice more successful - How to Excel as an Expert Witness in Patent Cases
Special techniques for validity and infringement experts - How to Excel as an Expert Witness in Workers’ Compensation Cases
Special techniques to deal with the subtle nuances and hidden pitfalls of workers’ compensation cases
Questions:
If you have questions about what course is best for you, please feel free to call 508-457-5150 or email us at mail@seak.com and we would be delighted to assist you!
