Learn How to Excel and Succeed as an Expert Witness
steve
About Steve Babitsky
Steven Babitsky, Esq. is the founder of SEAK, Inc., the Expert Witness Training Company. He was a personal injury trial attorney for twenty years and is the former managing partner of the firm Kistin, Babitsky, Latimer & Beitman. Steve has helped expert witnesses and their attorneys prepare for deposition in a broad range of cases, including antitrust, patent, medical malpractice, wrongful death, computer forensics, and many others. He has trained the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Aviation Administration, and he has worked with numerous forensic and financial companies including Fortune 500 companies and has
worked with numerous experts to help them expand and grow their practices. Mr. Babitsky is the co-author of the texts How to Be an Effective Expert Witness at Deposition and Trial: The SEAK Guide to Testifying as an Expert Witness, How to Be a Successful Expert Witness: SEAK’s A–Z Guide to Expert Witnessing, How to Write an Expert Witness Report, and How to Market Your Expert Witness Practice Evidence-Based Practices. Attorney Babitsky is the co-developer and trainer for the “How to Be an Effective Expert Witness” seminar and has been the seminar leader since 1990 for the Annual National Expert Witness and Litigation Conference.
***The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Information on this website may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information.***
Errata Sheets in Texas are governed by Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 203.1. Tex. Rev. Civ. Stat. Ann. art. 9, §203.1 (West 2017). The deposition officer should provide the witness or witness’s attorney, if present during the deposition, with the transcript once it is completed and the witness has 20 days to make changes [...]
Errata Sheets in Florida are governed statutorily by Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 1.310. Fla. Stat. Ann. § 1.310 (West 2017). Rule 1.310(e) provides that a witness must be provided a copy of and read the transcript of his/her deposition. Id. The parties and the witness can mutually agree to waive the transcript review [...]
Errata sheets in New York are governed statutorily by N.Y. C.P.L.R. 3116 (McKinney 2017). This rule states that witnesses can make corrections to their depositions for 60 days after the deposition transcript has been submitted to the witness. After 60 days, the witness cannot make any more corrections to the deposition. Additionally, for the changes [...]
In Federal District Court, Errata Sheets are governed statutorily by 5 U.S.C.A. § 30 (West 2017), specifically §30(e). This rule allows a witness to change deposition testimony via an errata sheet if a request is made to do so before the completion of the deposition. The errata sheet must be completed within 30 days after [...]
New Jersey Rules Regarding Expert Witness Depositions and Interrogatories Under Rule 4:10-2(d)(2) of the New Jersey Court Rules, experts who are required to furnish reports (as described in the following section) may be subject to deposition as to the opinions stated in their reports. See also Pontidis v. Shavelli, 686 A.2d 1275, 1277 (N.J. Super. [...]
Expert witnesses are all too often going into depositions, hearings, and trials with little or no preparation from counsel. As a consultant who helps prepare expert witnesses for depositions and trials, I always ask the expert: How much preparation did the retaining lawyer provide you? The answers range from: - None - Spoke for 30 [...]
Illinois Rules Regarding Expert Witness Depositions and Interrogatories Testifying experts may be subject to deposition in Illinois. Under Rule 206(d) of the Illinois Supreme Court Rules, depositions are generally limited to three hours. Experts retained only for consulting purposes, on the other hand, may only be subject to discovery under exceptional circumstances as described below, [...]
Texas Rules Regarding Expert Witness Depositions and Interrogatories Experts retained to provide trial testimony may be subject to deposition in Texas under Rule 190.3(b)(2) of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. The Rules of Civil Procedure generally do not provide guidance on how long any individual may be deposed, but does limit the total time [...]
California Rules Regarding Expert Witness Depositions and Interrogatories As described in the following section, both parties to a case must disclose the identity of and other information regarding the expert witnesses they expect to call at trial upon demand by either party. Under Section 2034.410 of the California Code of Civil Procedure, any expert disclosed [...]
Florida Rules Regarding Expert Witness Depositions and Interrogatories Under Rule 1.280(b)(5)(A)(iii) of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, any expert expected to provide testimony at trial may be deposed. There is no set time limit for depositions, but Rule 1.310(b)(3) provides that the court may expand or shorten the time allowed for taking a deposition [...]