The US District Court Nevada, in the case of Axelson v. HARTFORD INSURANCE COMPANY OF MIDWEST, Dist. Court, D. Nevada 2013, dealt with the issue of whether the treating orthopedic surgeon, Elkanich, was entitled to an expert witness fee for his deposition. The court found he was, in fact, entitled to an expert witness fee, [...]
Succession Planning: Positioning Your Expert Witness Practice for Reduced Workload, Takeover, or Eventual Sale Steven Babitsky, Esq. Many expert witnesses do not adequately plan for the potential sale of their forensic practices. Here are the 10 Biggest Mistakes Experts Make in Transition/Succession Planning: Mistake #1 Thinking that their skills are so unique they [...]
SEAK has just launched a new resource designed to provide information and other resources to trial attorneys and expert witness on expert witness related topics. Please take a moment to take a look: SEAK Expert Witness Directory Blog
SEAK has announced that its highly acclaimed interactive training program, How to Be an Effective Expert Witness, will be offered on Thursday and Friday September 19-20, 2013 at the Sea Crest Beach Hotel in Falmouth, MA. How to Be an Effective Expert Witness is a small group, hands-on, fast-moving interactive workshop covering deposition, direct [...]
SEAK’s Jim Mangraviti had the pleasure of teaching How to Start, Build, and Run a Forensic Engineering Practice for the American Society of Civil Engineers on March 21-22, 2013 in Oak Brook, IL. Jim has been teaching continuing education courses for ASCE since 2000. In this fast moving interactive seminar, a group of experienced civil [...]
The Biggest Mistakes Utility Expert Witnesses Make When Testifying in Front of Administrative Agencies Utility expert witnesses have many issues to deal with and overcome to achieve successful, persuasive testimony. Their testimony may be perceived as being biased, bought and paid for and constructed to achieve a specific result. The utility expert witnesses who [...]
Expert Witnesses’ Self-Inflicted Wounds By: Steven Babitsky, Esq. Many expert witnesses create problems for themselves with the things they say in their CVs, webpages, and reports. All of these self-created problems are completely avoidable with a little judicious self-editing. Here are just a few examples of some of these self-inflicted wounds that I have come [...]
Expert Witnesses’ Curriculum Vitae By: Steven Babitsky, Esq. An expert witness who has a sloppy curriculum vitae (CV) containing incorrect information is inviting questioning by opposing counsel. This questioning will likely be embarrassing and can damage the credibility of the expert witness. Here is an example from a demonstration at a recent SEAK expert witness [...]
Financial Expert Witnesses By: Steven Babitsky, Esq. Any expert witness who deals with numbers, valuations, discounts, etc. must be able to clearly and articulately explain where the numbers come from. Many of these experts are, in fact, unable to do so while under stress during their deposition. Here is an example that arose during an [...]
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 [...]