How to Retain an Expert Witness

How to Retain an Expert Witness

How to Retain an Expert Witness

Dave McDonald from the National Expert Witness Network has written and released a well-crafted (and free) instructional program to understand the best methodologies for finding, assessing the credentials of, and hiring an expert witness. Although created with an obvious lean toward the needs of attorneys seeking the right expert witness, many of the training slides are equally useful for an expert witness seeking to understand the process. In fact, many slides appear to emphasize IP cases primarily, but the reality of the legal arena is such that the material on these slides applies equally well to many different types of cases, and to the decisions made by lawyers in these matters as well.

Mr. McDonald covers everything from the definition (Rule 702) of an expert witness to the differing roles played by expert witnesses as either a defendant or plaintiff expert. He covers such fundamentals as finding the expert, determining fees for experts, and the qualities of an effective expert witness. He discusses retention agreements, payment responsibilities, and, from the business perspective, issues related to managing expert witnesses during a case.

In the more advanced stages of expert witness retention, he also discusses elements of confidentiality as well as parameters for expert reports, and even some admissibility considerations. He also includes suggested rules for responses during depositions, such as his 5-second rule to wait before answering questions, and his 30-second rule for limiting the time used for elaborate answers. Finally, he discusses the Supreme Court's Daubert case and the risks of expert disqualification that should be considered by both experts and attorneys before any case is actually offered to or accepted by an expert.

Since many experts have never actually testified at trial, Mr. McDonald includes some valuable slides on advice and preparations of an expert witness for trial proceedings. He further includes some suggestions for both the expert and his attorney regarding opinions and objectivity. For the larger cases, such as many intellectual property matters turn into, this training program also includes information for effective management of the eventual work product and the possibility of multiple experts.

Mr. McDonald's course can be found at the National Expert Witness Network's website, www.newnexperts.com in the About main menu choice, and in the Training' submenu choice.

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