4 C’s for experts-clear communication, coachability, confidence, and candor. These are very important characteristics. Communication is obvious-it is important for experts, whether they are communicating with clients, lawyers, opposition or courts.
How to avoid career ending traps for the unwary-many of these relate to forming opinions on areas outside of one’s expertise or not using sound methods in expert witness work.
The scope and limits of discovery and your options to fight back against unreasonable discovery requests and abuse-this relates more to requests of parties but any request of anyone should always be analyzed to make sure that it’s reasonable.
How lawyers exclude expert testimony and what you can do to prevent being excluded-similar to the item above about traps, it’s all about being thorough, staying in one’s lane and using sound techniques.
What lawyers can and cannot ask you at deposition and trial, and why-again this is more for the parties but some lawyers ask inappropriate questions of experts or try to trap experts into saying/thinking things that are not correct.
How a lawsuit works and the ethical and other rules the attorneys must follow-this is more important for lawyers but can be helpful for experts to be aware of. There are many rules/practices that are followed in terms of trial strategies, deadlines and pleading practices. Also, attorneys must be professional/civil to one another and have a duty of candor to the tribunal.
The anatomy of a civil trial-there are many areas, such as those mentioned above. There is a discovery phase, motions practice and pre-trial/trial issues that must be considered, among others.
How to think and speak like a lawyer and how to understand “legalese”-this is somewhat important for experts, though it is even better for them to think and speak like an expert ! There is much ‘legalese’-names of documents/pleadings, types of discovery etc. Also, experience is the best way to learn the anatomy of a trial-such as basic formalities, the sequence of events, importance of steps/documents/practices etc.
The significance of the December 2023 amendments to Federal Rule of Evidence 702- The Rule was amended to clarify and emphasize that expert testimony may not be admitted unless the proponent demonstrates to the court by a preponderance of the evidence that the proffered testimony meets all of the Rule’s admissibility requirements
The rules associated with depositions including fees, length, scope, instructions not to answer, etc.-this is all useful information for experts.
Issues that give rise to expert witness liability and risk management strategies for experts-this is also something that should be researched.