Identify areas of vulnerability for your expert witness.Provide your expert with general advice.Explain the likely goals of opposing counsel.Schedule the deposition for a favorable time and location.It can be helpful to obtain past deposition transcripts of your expert witness and of opposing counsel.Being able to express and defend each and every opinion the expert has expressed in the case.Thinking of the most difficult questions that counsel might ask and being prepared to truthfully and artfully reply to them.How often have they testified? In which jurisdictions? For which sides?. What percentage of their work is plaintiff versus defense?.The percentage of their income that comes from legal matters.How much they are owed on the case to date.Researching answers to common and expected “money” questions:.Organizing the file oneself to allow quick and easy access to information even while under great stress.Personally touching every piece of paper in the file.What other aids, if any, can the expert bring to the deposition?.Can and should the expert bring a list of the opinions he expects to offer at the trial, along with the concise reasons for them?.Can the expert highlight records or excerpt them and bring them along?. Can the expert make and bring notes, timelines, etc.If the expert has not drafted a report, you should go over the following with him:.Possessing intimate and complete familiarity with any reports or other documents that the expert has authored or signed in the case as well as any expert declaration.The date of the accident in question, and.When the expert formed his opinion(s) in the case,.When the records were received and from whom they were received,.When the expert was first contacted by counsel,.Make a favorable impression as a witness.Identify questions based on incorrect facts,.Having a full, complete, and exhaustive knowledge of the facts in the case.Create a series of the 10–20 issues your expert must be prepared to answer questions on truthfully and articulately.The expert should do her homework and be prepared to answer key questions using headlines and bullet points.Don’t answer an unintelligible or confusing question.If your expert doesn’t know or doesn’t remember, she should just say so.They should focus on the actual question asked.Their job is to answer the questions truthfully and articulately.It is not a friendly conversation with opposing counsel. Build a record to exclude your expert under Daubert, Frye, or Rule 702.Lock your expert down into absolute answers.The rules of discoverability of expert witness-retaining counsel communication in the jurisdiction in question.The objections available to you as retaining counsel are limited and, in most instances, your expert will still need to answer the question, even if it has been objected to.Opposing counsel has tremendous leeway in asking questions.
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