Sunday, March 31, 2019

Qualities An Engineering Expert Witness Should Have

By Anthony Murphy


When an attorney is looking into hiring an expert witness for a case, they would look for the qualities of the individual which they believe that will result for their clients to win the case. The quality of an engineering expert witness can widely range from excellent to poor. An attorney can spend a great amount of sum, just to get an expert opinion which is needed to prove the case they are working on.

First, ensure that the expert would be willing to see your case until the end. A lot of professionals tends to avoid testimony and deposition, which is a problem. You need to make sure that the one you selected is willing and is able to fulfill the obligations. If necessary, be able to make a stand as well.

Confidence. Expert witnesses are usually examined by the opposing counsel to know how did they came to that opinion. They may also have to testify right in front of the jury or judge. Their goal for testifying is to make the people who are unfamiliar with the area of specialty believe in their opinion. A confident one can easily make the jury or judge believe in them.

Consistency. Most expert witness are not only testifying one case, they could have lots of cases with them. This makes it possible for them to forget some of the things they have said on reports and depositions, making it inconsistent. When the person testifying is inconsistent, the opposing party may point this out so that they can diminish his or her opinions.

When you evaluate the industry expertise do not be too narrow. Having a specific knowledge about the industry at first is not always paramount. Those who have done a variety of cases already and practiced a number of disciplines usually brings complex issues a deeper understanding. These people can even adapt better when a case gets an inevitable twists and turns.

Attention to details. Details matter in litigation so the person must have a high level of attention to details. Failure in exercising high attention can result to being crushed during the examination since the person fail to properly examining the facts before the opinions are rendered. A common way to undercut his or her opinion is to point out the things that was done reviewed or done.

Trustworthiness. Your witness must be able to convince the other people. Being trustworthy starts with the appearance. That means, he or she must be dressed properly and professionally when in court. You can trust someone who is confidence and attentive all throughout. This also means, not ignoring the facts which makes your side unfavorable.

Pick someone whom you will be comfortable with the style and the approach that they select. As mentioned above, a litigation can be stressful. The process can go smoothly when the person you hired is easy to communicate with and is a trusted person. Communication is the key to success, ensure that you can easily communicate with him or her.

Knows how to improvise. Has the ability to improvise. In litigation, one of the important times is when your witness is questioned about something he or she is not prepared to answer. Hypothetical questions are often asked by attorneys to make the person say I do not know, so they need to come up with answers on the spot based.




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