SEAK’s Jim Mangraviti had the pleasure of teaching How to Start, Build, and Run a Forensic Engineering Practice for the American Society of Civil Engineers on March 21-22, 2013 in Oak Brook, IL.  Jim has been teaching continuing education courses for ASCE since 2000.  In this fast moving interactive seminar, a group of experienced civil engineers learned how to get started as a civil engineer expert witness, form defensible opinions and earn repeat and word-of-mouth business.  Attendees ranged in age from their 30s to 60s.  Some were looking to diversify their current practice by adding forensic consulting.  Others were looking to improve and expand their current forensic engineering practice.  Still others were looking toward retirement and a way to keep active and supplement their revenue after leaving their current practice by starting a civil engineering expert witness practice.

Topics taught included:

  • Role of Civil Engineer Expert Witnesses in Civil Litigation
  • What Successful Expert Witnesses Have in Common
  • Finding and Developing Your Niche in the Expert Witness Marketplace
  • Achieving Excellence: Going Beyond the Expectations of Retaining Counsel
  • Pulling Together a CV Appropriate for Expert Witness Work
  • Bulletproofing Yourself – Your CV, Qualifications, Marketing Activities & Web Site
  • Bulletproofing Yourself – Your Image and Reputation
  • Bulletproofing Your Opinions– Passing the Daubert Tests, Your Methodology
  • Bulletproofing Your Opinions – Research, Investigation, Case Review and Examination
  • Bulletproofing Your Opinions– Managing the Potentially Damaging Influence of Retaining Counsel
  • Bulletproofing Your Opinions– Rebuttals and Commenting On Other Experts
  • Bulletproofing Your Opinions– Best Practices in Expressing and Supporting Your Opinions in Your Written Report and While Testifying
  • Best Practices in Forensic Office Management
  • Best Practices in Dealing With Counsel
  • Deposition Best Practices
  • Best Practices in Fee Setting, Fee Schedules & Agreements, Billings and Collections
  • Advanced Marketing Techniques for Building a Legal Consulting Practice
  • Ethics and Risk Management

 

SEAK is The Expert Witness Training Company.  For SEAK’s upcoming expert witness training schedule