Attorneys use many different methods to locate expert witnesses. These include the following:
- Other attorneys – typically a referral from a colleague within the firm or a co-member of a professional association of attorneys such as AAJ or DRI.
- Experts who opposed the attorney in past cases – attorneys will take note of effective expert witnesses they have come against in the past and will often hire that expert witness to work on their own side in future cases.
- Expert locator and referral services – There are many expert witness referral services and expert witness brokers. The top rated expert witness referral services are Roundtable Group, TASA, and Forensis Group.
- Literature/Presentation/Internet searches – the problem with this approach is that often the person found is a subject matter expert, but may not have experience as an expert witness or training as an expert witness.
- Certifying agencies/ Specialty Societies – Many subspecialty societies and subspecialty certifications exist that can be helpful in a search for an expert witness For example attorneys can use ACTAR to find an accident reconstructionist expert witness and AICPA’s CFF to locate a forensic accounting expert witness
- Universities – again, the problem here is that the person found may not have experience as an expert witness.
- Experts used in the past – attorneys often hire expert witnesses who performed well in the past for work on subsequent cases.
- Jury verdict reports – Jury verdict reports often publish the name of the expert on the winning side.
- Referrals from the client – Sometimes the attorney’s client can recommend an expert witness since they have expertise in an area at issue.
- Advertisements – Expert witnesses commonly advertise online and in legal publications.
- Paid online legal research services – For example Lexis and Westlaw.
- Referrals from other expert witnesses – Lawyers often get advice on whom to hire as an expert witness from their other expert witnesses in the case or from expert witnesses they have used in the past.
Expert witness directories –The top rated expert witness directories are SEAK, JurisPro, Expert Pages, and HG Experts. The advantages of using one of the best expert witness directories are that they contain large numbers of expert witnesses, they are most likely experienced, and the experts are available for additional expert witness assignments.
SEAK, Inc., the expert witness training company, offers assistance in locating expert witnesses. SEAK publishes the top rated expert witness directory. For assistance locating experts please visit www.seakexperts.com or call Alex Babitsky at 508-457-5150.