Expert Witness Rules

Expert Witness Rules

An expert mustn’t allow themselves to be swayed by their retaining attorney.

It’s a sure way to ruin a reputation and lose their credibility.

𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙣 𝘼𝙙𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚: "Don't argue with your customer"

𝙐𝙣𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙣 𝘼𝙙𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚: "If you're not a match ... 𝙨𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚"

7 months ago, I was retained by defense counsel
↳And I could tell right away it wasn't a good fit

During the Litigation Consult:

• They asked for an immediate opinion
• They bashed the plaintiff's counsel harshly
• They steered the discussion with leading questions

"I can't answer your questions or 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙮 take a position until I review the records," I concluded

They paid my retainer and sent the records
↳ 2 Gigabytes, 7 Folders, 11 Depositions, 38 PDFS

The case was reviewed and I stated my position:
↳"I cannot defend the medicine by the defendant ... 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙧𝙘𝙪𝙢𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨"

This did not go over well.

They were hoping I would simply disagree with the plaintiff's expert ... 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙩
↳It was the defense strategy that was flawed
↳So we parted ways (𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁)

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆: An expert mustn't allow themselves to be swayed by their retaining attorney
↳𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙪𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮.

𝗣.𝗦. - Have you heard of firing your "𝙗𝙖𝙙" clients?