The Expert Witness Process: Are You Doing What’s Best for Your Clients?
Expert witnesses often play a critical role in legal proceedings. From formulating your argument to going to trial, expert testimony can provide the information and insight necessary to make or break a case.
Why, then, do we often procrastinate, delegate, or simply rush the process of locating and selecting an exceptional expert witness? Sure, it’s one more thing to do, but taking the time to find the right expert and set them up to succeed is an investment that pays off in the end.
Start sourcing experts more effectively by avoiding these four common mistakes:
Waiting until the last minute. Procrastination introduces unnecessary risk into the equation. When short on time, it’s difficult to find the precise expertise that you need. As a result, you can end up with an expert that’s just “good enough” – and good enough doesn’t win cases.
Last minute timelines also impact your experts. Even if you’ve secured an excellent witness, you are denying them time to investigate and understand the facts of your case, apply the expertise you’re depending on, and pursue alternative theories and options if necessary. An ill-prepared expert is ineffective at best, harmful at worst.Declining help from a reputable location company. Yes, the Internet has streamlined the expert location process. Plug in your requirements, and a database spits out a list of matching results. Sounds simple. Unfortunately, some companies have damaged the perception of location services in general. Many “locators” rely on outdated information that was provided by the experts themselves. There are no real people available to ensure data quality and help determine which experts will best suit your needs.
That said, there are credible location services available that go well beyond providing questionably valid data to offering an end-to-end solution for finding the perfect expert. They will learn your case, support you in finding the best expert for your needs and handle all the administrative work required, so you can focus on the task at hand.Delegating responsibility to someone who doesn’t know the case. Law is often a team sport, to everyone’s benefit. While handing off expert selection to someone else may save time at first, your client could pay the price down the line. The process often suffers from lack of accountability and can lead to a failure to follow case best practices. Make sure it’s clear who owns the expert process, and arm them with the information they need to manage it successfully.
Failing to check credentials. This sounds like a no-brainer, but falls through the cracks surprisingly often. Without thorough vetting, your expert becomes a potential liability. Undisclosed background information leads to surprises in and out of court. Even worse, an unqualified “expert” can not only fail to provide value, he or she can actively damage your case and reputation.
A great expert will have a portfolio of their credentials and gladly share it with you. Start there, check references (no matter how concrete they appear), and end the process with a formal background check to ensure every base is covered.
Experts can often be the lynchpin in successfully presenting a case. Locating the best expert for your needs should be given the same priority and attention to detail as the other crucial aspects of your preparation for litigation.
About Ingrid Vinci: Ingrid spent 10 years as a litigation attorney, working with experts in a wide variety of cases, before founding Expert Consulting Services. She understands and values the importance of a collaborative relationship between legal professionals and their experts.
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