Dispatches from the court room
One economist's personal experience providing economic expert witness testimony: A day by day blow [Intro and Day 1]
Are you a young attorney who is the process of preparing the economic damage portion of an wrongful death case? If you are, you have probably noticed that there are a number of great resources out there to help you prepare. These resources include textbooks from publishers such as Lawyers and Judges and SEAK as well as many great CLE videos from state bars across the country, ATLA, DRI, and many other legal organizations.
However, what you may have found, or will find, is that some times, especially when preparing for directing expert witness testimony, you just need to know how things work in an actual courtroom situation. Below is diary of an anonymous economist, preparing for an anonymous trial, in an anonymous state. She is testifying on behalf of the plaintiffs which are estate of the deceased. Ok really, the economist is a lostcompensation.com contract economist testifying in a wrongful death case in Texas! (Some of the facts in the case have been changed to protect both the innocent and guilty parties in the case!)
It is rather long; but I hope it helps!
5.17.05 (Tuesday)
Flew into Houston, Texas in preparation of testifying in the case on Wednesday. As usual, I brought my entire case file which included all the documents that I had received concerning the case. I also carry with me a ‘support binder’. The support binder is a notebook binder that has all the support and back up for the numbers and assumptions that go into the analysis. That night I went over the all the case documents again and reviewed my expert report.
Now that I have the questions in my head that I think the plaintiff’s attorney is planning to ask me, what I do is prepare written answers to them. The written answers do become part of my file, but like all the other files I do not take them to court. Instead, I use the written answers to ‘rehearse’ my responses. In general this helps me to be more focused in the courtroom. Since, I already have some answers played out in my head, I can then focus on the more subtle parts of being an effective and convincing expert witness. The more subtle parts include watching my body language, speaking clearly, and trying to answer the cross examination questions (no matter how off the wall they may be) in the same profession tone and manner as was done in the direct examination.
Are you a young attorney who is the process of preparing the economic damage portion of an wrongful death case? If you are, you have probably noticed that there are a number of great resources out there to help you prepare. These resources include textbooks from publishers such as Lawyers and Judges and SEAK as well as many great CLE videos from state bars across the country, ATLA, DRI, and many other legal organizations.
However, what you may have found, or will find, is that some times, especially when preparing for directing expert witness testimony, you just need to know how things work in an actual courtroom situation. Below is diary of an anonymous economist, preparing for an anonymous trial, in an anonymous state. She is testifying on behalf of the plaintiffs which are estate of the deceased. Ok really, the economist is a lostcompensation.com contract economist testifying in a wrongful death case in Texas! (Some of the facts in the case have been changed to protect both the innocent and guilty parties in the case!)
It is rather long; but I hope it helps!
5.17.05 (Tuesday)
Flew into Houston, Texas in preparation of testifying in the case on Wednesday. As usual, I brought my entire case file which included all the documents that I had received concerning the case. I also carry with me a ‘support binder’. The support binder is a notebook binder that has all the support and back up for the numbers and assumptions that go into the analysis. That night I went over the all the case documents again and reviewed my expert report.
Now that I have the questions in my head that I think the plaintiff’s attorney is planning to ask me, what I do is prepare written answers to them. The written answers do become part of my file, but like all the other files I do not take them to court. Instead, I use the written answers to ‘rehearse’ my responses. In general this helps me to be more focused in the courtroom. Since, I already have some answers played out in my head, I can then focus on the more subtle parts of being an effective and convincing expert witness. The more subtle parts include watching my body language, speaking clearly, and trying to answer the cross examination questions (no matter how off the wall they may be) in the same profession tone and manner as was done in the direct examination.
posted by The Experts @ 9:46 AM
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