subject: An Expert Help To Lawyers By Expert Witness [print this page] Expert witness is a term that can be best explained by splitting it as an expert acting as awitness. The expert witnesses are specialised people in their respective fields whose testimony is taken regarding some case in question. The expert witnesses play a very important role in determination of the final verdict of the case. These professionals are commonly hired by lawyers for their plaintiffs or in defence to critically examine the facts arising out of the case and give their opinions thereupon.
A lawyer does his work of collecting the facts and rearranging them in such a way so that the case on each side becomes easy to comprehend. In order to determine the credibility of these facts one needs to have a good deal of knowledge in that particular field and then the experts advice become inevitable.
The expert witnesses can be classified in two categories: testifying experts and the non-testifying experts.
Testifying Experts- These are the witness who have to declare their opinion in front of everyone and any document that they present in support of their declaration is available to both the sides in a case. It is often advisable for these experts to not to give anything in writing and specially any personal opinion should be avoided as it could hurt a case.
Non-testifying experts- These types of witnesses cater to only one side of the case. These are hired by the lawyers to review their facts and reports collected throughout the trial and to derive conclusions thereupon. These experts are given protection and are not made to sit before jury.
The lawyer should undertake good research before selecting an expert witness and may have a question-answer session before making a final decision as the experts testimony can turn the whole case upside down. It is thus of utmost importance that the person acting in capacity of witness should possess great deal knowledge.
The following points may be considered helpful in selecting a proper expert witness:
A lawyer should first of all monitor the persons analytical skills and reasoning. In order to do so, the lawyer gives an outline of all essential happenings in the case to the expert and then the expert can be asked to give his ideas and opinions. This ways, the expert understands the gravity of the case and delivers his report accordingly.
The presentation style of the expert also holds great importance. The person should be confident and extremely good at speaking influentially.
The expert should appear as an independent servant of the court and should present his findings in a non-biased manner supported by research and facts.
