Best Ways to Connect with both the Attorney and the Client during Your Work as an Expert Witness

Whatever you record in writing or electronic form becomes discoverable by the other side in the case

. This includes any emails you may write to the attorney. Think twice about putting information into email just because it's convenient or because you cannot reach the attorney on the telephone. Think twice about documentation of your interim analyses, progress, or factors. These written materials are potential evidence and you may have difficulty recalling why you even wrote them. Worse still, they may prove embarrassing if they suggest conflicts with your final opinions.

Use the telephone, and not email, to keep your attorney up to date on your work!

Do not consider deleting those e-mails or throwing away documented notes in your file. Once they're written, by law you cannot blatantly destroy potential evidence. Laws concerning spoliation and obstruction of justice will govern your removal of written material from your file. This also includes misguided e-mails that your own attorney may send you with revelations about the case, or about the attorney's tactics and strategies regarding the case.

Individuals who need attorneys are by and large the named litigants in the case. They hire the attorneys, and the attorneys generally hire you as an expert witness. The client is the one who pays both you and the attorneys, so even though the lawyer or law firm may formally engage you, it's a moot point since the litigant is paying for both of you.

When you meet with clients, those who work with them, or with witnesses, they may have strong opinions about what or who was right or wrong. Just listen, ask necessary questions, and take notes that are factual but not opinionated. Do not share your thinking, but only say that you are gathering facts with which to formulate opinions.

From time to time, you will determine that your client is in the wrong, that he may be "the bad guy." You must remain calm and neutral; yet, you have to share it with your attorney as soon as possible. Let the attorney decide what to do with that data. At times, the attorneys may choose to release you from the case because your opinions may no longer be able to help them. At other times, this may strongly guide the attorney into a different tack in the matter.

I have been involved in cases where my research proved that my attorney's client was in the wrong. In those cases, the research helped the attorney settle the case on better terms in civil matters, and plead the case to less burdensome terms in criminal matters. Even though you bring objectivity to your job as an expert witness, it can still be stressful when you cannot help to prove the innocence of your own client, or the guilt of the opposing party's client. However, if you have done your job properly, you can still be proud of the professional way in which you performed your investigations and your analyses. In effect, you have helped both the attorney and the client. Regardless of whether your side is in the right or in the wrong, your work efforts can help assist your attorney to secure a better final result.

Best Ways to Connect with both the Attorney and the Client during Your Work as an Expert Witness

By: Judd Robbins

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