Posts discussing expert witness testimony.
Steven Babitsky, Esq. State and federal courts are encouraging and, in some cases, requiring litigants to proceed with virtual litigation. Hearings In Madonna Ciccone v. One West 64th Street Inc., the Supreme court New York County 6514748/2016 9/4/2020, the court required, due to Covid-19, that a fee hearing must go forward by videoconference. Bench Trials [...]
The U.S. District Court E.D. New York dealt with a request for a virtual bench trial in a voting rights act case. The court granted the request for the virtual bench trial and stated: In terms of good cause, plaintiffs argue that "COVID-19 creates perhaps the most compelling circumstances in history in favor of conducting [...]
Steven Babitsky, Esq. The U.S. District Court (Alaska) dealt with a professor, Bloom, who proposed testifying "about incentives for snitches and cooperating witnesses . . . to aid the jury by giving a thorough background that they may determine the credibility of cooperating witnesses.” The court relied on Black Letter Law and held he would [...]
Steven Babitsky, Esq. I was speaking with an expert witness and he described his problem at deposition: “I do very well generally at my depositions. I am well-prepared, know my stuff, and have experience. The problem is it takes me 20-30 minutes to warm up during my deposition, so in the beginning of them I [...]
One of the most important techniques trial lawyers are taught is how to control the expert witness during cross-examination. Attorney Phillip H. Miller explains this strategy: Cross-examination is not about a witness testifying; it is about the lawyer eliciting the desired testimony from the witness. Control the witness. If you feel you are not in [...]
Steven Babitsky, Esq. The court of appeals of Oregon dealt with Plaintiff, Miller, who was in a minor accident and later alleged fibromyalgia as a result of the accident. The court excluded the plaintiff’s medical experts who were to testify as to causation. The court found that although there was no general medical acceptance of [...]
Steven Babitsky, Esq. How do trial attorneys attack psychologists and psychiatrists during cross-examination? They are being trained to concentrate on the expert’s competence and methodology. Attorney Renee Welze Livingston writes in the January 2020 issue of For the Defense: How Methodical Investigation Can Cast Doubt on a Psychological Expert’s Competence and Methodology. This revealing article [...]
Steven Babitsky, Esq. Introduction Many cases rise and fall based on how your expert witness does at their deposition. Here are some of the biggest mistakes lawyers make when preparing their expert witness. Failure to Ask the Expert Witness What They Are Concerned About Most expert witnesses, even the most experienced ones, have issues that [...]
Steven Babitsky, Esq. One of the keys to success for an expert witness is the ability to excel when testifying at their depositions. There are many ways experts can improve their deposition testimony: Read books on the subject.[1] Attend training specifically dealing with delivering excellent deposition testimony.[2] Learn from experience at their depositions. Have Your [...]
By Steven Babitsky Esq. The direct testimony of an expert witness is often more important than cross examination. During direct testimony, the expert has the only opportunity to tell their story in an organized, chronological, and thoughtful way. Here are 17 mistakes experts often make during their direct testimony with the ways to avoid them. [...]