Expert Witness Mentoring from SEAK
Get personalized advice from SEAK’s trainers to help you navigate challenging situations
We provide one-on-one training for those witnesses desiring the highest level of individual attention. We are retained by both individuals and law firms to train and prepare witnesses.
SEAK has provided 1-1 training for hundreds of expert witnesses.
Our services include:
- Mentoring
- Report Writing Training/Assistance
- Testimony preparation (with mock examinations, critiques and suggestions for improvement) for a key upcoming deposition, hearing or trial
- Mock examinations with feedback
- CV review and critique
- Review and critique of past reports
- Review and critique of past testimony (from provided transcripts)
- Review and critique of web pages and marketing materials
- Practice Development/Marketing consulting
- Risk audit of practices and procedures
SEAK has had the honor of mentoring countless expert witnesses. Experts turn to us when vexing issues arise in their practices. Our clients gain the benefit of our vast experience – we have trained and assisted thousands upon thousands of experts. The advice we give we is typically simple and highly practical. Note that we do not practice law, nor do we offer legal advice. Our advice is solely on techniques and strategies for running and sustaining a highly successful expert witness practice.
COSTS & LOGISTICS: SEAK charges by the hour for its mentoring of expert witnesses. Most questions are answered over the phone, although some are amenable to email. The vast experience of our trainers allows us to often offer our advice in a brief phone call of as little as 15-30 minutes.
If you have any questions about retaining a SEAK expert witness trainer for personal advice, please click here or call 978-276-1234. It would be our pleasure to be of assistance.
Testimonials
“As has always been the case every time I have called on you for a phone consultation, your advice on this matter was incredibly helpful. As I have recently told a couple of other subject matter experts recently, the cost to attend your seminars and for consulting calls is much less than the consequences of not learning in your seminars and seeking your advice as a consultant are far greater than the cost of the services you provide, especially on the large and complex cases I often work. Thanks again for all that you do.”
“Jim, Your intuition is spot on. You have been one of the best mentors in my professional life.”
“Jim and Kelly, Thank you for your excellent help today, delivered with Style, Enthusiasm, Accuracy and Knowledge.”
“Jim, Thank you very much. It was hugely helpful to speak with you this morning, this work requires exquisite, non-emotional responses. Thanks again!”
“Jim, Thank you so much! As usual, you have the right answer! When I feel stuck, and I’m not sure what to do, I ask ” What would Jim say?” Good advice!”
“Hello Jim and Kelly. I wanted to let you know that since I have listed on your directory I have been retained on 3 cases! They just keep rolling in. I owe you a big thank you for mentoring me.”
“Dear Jim, I thought I should take a minute to say “thank you” again for all the help you have given me. I really appreciate your advice and your availability.”
“I just accepted my 31st expert witness and first LCP case…Thanks to you for helping to make that happen.”
“Jim, as usual, your comments and coaching are invaluable. I am not surprised you remember details of the report you critiqued over a year ago.”
“Jim, I cannot thank you enough for your help and inspiration. It is good to know that you are available for consultation for these types of issues. Thank you for your time and attention. It is difficult for me to comprehend the meaning of the Judge’s motion other than “STRUCK”. Per your recommendation, I will register for Nadine’s course. I always seem to find an excuse for not taking it…now there is some urgency in doing so!”
Jim, Hope all is well and that you are your organization are navigating COVID with a little disruption as possible.’ The best preparation for deposition and testimony is a bulletproof expert witness report.’ Based on a recent engagement, I thank you for this pearl of wisdom. My continued engagement with you and your organization continues to generate immense personal value.”
“Hi Jim, Thanks for yesterday! I never told you but I have a sign in my office “I can’t fix stupid” I now have another sign next to it “SUCK IT UP” I have learned SO MUCH from you. Thanks”
“Thank you again for your help today. You are always incredibly helpful with clear, logical and thoughtful advice.”
“Thank you for being a trusted mentor and teacher over the years, and for all of SEAK’s help, advice, and inputs on expert witnessing and its ins-and-outs – it’s deeply appreciated.”
“Jim, My wife and I would like to thank you and Nadine for the time all of you have spent with us, and most recently, the consult I had with Nadine a few weeks ago. The 30 minute consult was highly valuable in framing our response to a potential contingency liability case overture from a plaintiff attorney as described above. Had we not had the benefit of my training last spring and the consult, we likely would have botched this. Our responses resulted in this attorney confirming our suspicions – that she was trying to take advantage of a medical provider. We learned a lot from this and other experiences and it has postured us for more effective management of our burgeoning expert witness careers.”
“Jim: You are terrific and really helped me focus on my weaknesses. I have a renewed purpose now.”
“Hi Jim, I had the call today on the tricky …. case. It was a toughie but it went well and I was well-prepared to stay in my sandbox, thanks to our conversation. Many thanks again.”
“Thanks for the good advice as always. Much appreciated.”
“Jim, I just got your invoice for $1250. I am sending a check for $2,000. The extra is gratuity from me to you. Your time was worth every penny!!!”
“Hi Steve, Just wanted to say thanks for all your help with my recent expert reports and deposition review. The big case with my 83-page report settled over the weekend, a nice surprise. So far I have been enjoying the records review process and report writing, and very happy to get good feedback about my work. All the SEAK books, trainings and your personalized help have been invaluable as I get started in this exciting new field! Looking forward to continuing with more expert work in the future. Thanks again and best wishes.”
“I greatly appreciated the wonderful advice from Attorney Donovan during our Monday teleconference. The advice was comprehensive and will befit both my future revenue and professional credibility.”
“Jim, I just replenished my retainer. You are one of my best investments ever! No brainer.”
“I cannot thank you enough for your help and mentorship. Feel free to use me as an endorsement of your services anytime you wish.”
“Hi Jim, I wanted to thank you for your help with the recent case about which I contacted you. I spoke with the attorney today, and he was very impressed with my work. He gave me a specific compliment, which I feel I owe to you and the courses I took through SEAK. Thank you so much for your help and direction.”
“Trial number 9 is in the bag. Ate their lunch today, once again. Retaining attorney ecstatic. You rock.”
“Jim, Working with you is so incredibly helpful! Thank you very much!”
“Hi Jim, You’ve already ‘paid for yourself’ I’d say. I’ve been busy and now am retained on three cases. I had one interview where “case went in another direction”. I’m most appreciative of you help. Both live and via your books!”
“Jim; You have been there when I needed direction and I appreciate this, thank you. I’m in your debt.”
“Jim, Thanks so much for your great advice and support.”
“Steve, As I reflect back over the last year, it is clear that one of the best decisions I made was to consult with you about two of my upcoming trials, as well as other matters such as billing. I learned an enormous amount from you, and feel that I am a much better and more capable expert witness because of our work together. Plus, working with you was a lot of fun!”
“Jim, I just wanted to thank you again so much for taking some time with me this morning especially on such short notice. It really set me on course again and I’ve been able to move ahead with the report today so much more easily.”
“Jim, Just wanted to say thank you again for this morning’s pow wow. I always walk away with a renewed sense of confidence and conviction about the case after we’ve had a chance to “dissect”.”
“My experience working with Steven Babitsky was extremely worthwhile. I had been “dabbling” in expert witness work, and Steve showed my how to take this work more seriously. We cleaned up my cv, my fee schedule, and my business habits. I had been selling myself short. I now see my value as an expert and have actually had a more positive response from all the attorneys I have now worked with since that time. The first two suggestions Steve made more than paid for his fee for coaching me. Thank YOU STEVE!!!”
“Steve, It is reassuring to have you looking over my shoulder as my coach and mentor. And I can’t tell you how I appreciate that you are proactive on my behalf.”
“Jim: You were worth every penny of your retainer. And you practice what you preach about being available, getting the work done, listening and being understandable in your explanations.”
“I was retained on my 100th case today. I would never have enjoyed this success without your mentoring and SEAK books, training and conferences. Thank you doesn’t begin to cover it.”
“Thank you, Jim. I love it that you are there to help me when I’m in a crunch. I’m learning from the best.”
“Thank you again for the invaluable consultation. Your advice has been just excellent and career changing.”
“I wanted to personally thank you for the advice you provided to me today. It was extremely helpful, and as a result, everything worked out just fine. I am looking forward to taking another course from SEAK soon.”
“I just wanted to thank you again for providing extraordinary advice. My verbal report was today at noon MT, went well, the attorney was very happy, and said she will definitely use me again.”
“Thank you for all your advice! And all your books! Regarding the report, I did pretty much what you recommended. By doing so, I totally undermined the attack that opposing counsel planned for me! Also, from reading the other depositions it was clear that this lawyer likes to machinegun questions at you. Retaining counsel was very anxious because opposing counsel had used this aggressive questioning technique along with leading the witnesses, intimidating, and interrupting, to chew up all the other witnesses. I promptly applied all the strategies from your books, ultimately, rendered opposing Counsel speechless. Literally!!!! ;-)). He was just sitting there with his mouth open! :-0. It Was awesome! Jim, I just wanted to let you know that you, SEAK, your courses, and your books, are just AMAZING!!!!”
“Thank you very much for today’s “workout”. It was extremely helpful.”
“Thank you for your insightful critique of our [expert witness report]. I learned a lot from your seminar in Naples a few years back and a number of your books. But, there is nothing better than getting your input on a specific assignment. This is a new format for us and we are now in a position to improve it greatly. At some point in the near future I will attend one or more of your seminars, as I focus on some other areas in my business that could be improved. I may be in my early 70s but I am not finished with my education.”
“Jim, just wanted to let you know that I just got a call from the lawyer on the case for which I prepped recently with you for deposition. She told me that they settled and my testimony was a big part of it and that I was a “rock star” and that they are referring me to everyone that asks. She actually referred me to another lawyer during my deposition. She told me that I was very helpful, prepared, easy to work with. Thanks so much for making my first real depo a good experience!”
“By the way, The attorney for whom I created the expert report [you assisted me with] loved my report, thanks! She had no corrections and said that it was “great”. She thinks that this will settle the case.”
“In preparation for the major deposition I engaged Steven Babitsky at SEAK to review my expert report and conduct a full day of one-on-one training. The expert report review significantly sharpened my written analysis of the issues and clarifies my opinion. The daylong training was highly challenging and focused on strategy, critical thinking, and the use of the language for a testifying expert witness in a successful deposition. In my view the insight of the report review and the day’s training was a game changer in terms of my confidence and performance throughout the deposition resulting in attorneys clients who were exceptionally pleased with my level of preparation and performance.”
“I think it went very well, I feel really good, your prep was extremely helpful. A couple of the defense questions were almost exactly what you had anticipated and that we went over. So, I was all set to ‘let loose’ when he asked those questions.”
“Your critique of my reports was golden.”
“I had my first video depo a few weeks ago and the attorney said I was the best and most prepared expert she had ever seen. So, I told her about SEAK and your services/conferences. She was very eager to take the information down and was quite interested in learning more about SEAK. Thanks again!”
“The plaintiff in my recent railroad case prevailed and defendant was found 100% liable. Retaining counsel was very pleased with how I handled confrontational questions on cross-exam.”
“Many thanks, Jim. [Your 1-1 training] has helped me greatly. You had pegged the weak spots so I had thought through it and was as well prepared as possible. They tried the standard routines you demonstrated of ‘you cannot point to a single research report…’ – without preparation I would have been intimidated by that. The preparation was crucial. It helped me understand what was going on and stay focused and relaxed. [Retaining Counsel] seems well satisfied. Really appreciate your help and training.”
“Your help was great; prep was very useful; After the depo, the retaining attorney talked to me for a while and said that it went real good and commented on my memory and organization; there were no errors or “clean up” issues after the depo. Thanks again; it is money well spent.”
“Retaining counsel said based primarily on my report, all 4 cases were settled… Retaining counsel is highly pleased. Your experience and critique of my report was pivotal to this outcome. Thanks again.”
“I wanted to tell you I can’t express how appreciative I am for the help you gave me to prepare for my first deposition. I would have been smeared without your prep and your books really have helped me put out quality professional products. I have had consistent success because my reports are factual, organized and I work very hard to stay away from the pitfalls I learned from you. This really fast tracked me and helped me avoid a lifetime of hard lesions. Not that I won’t have any, but it gave me a great head start. Thank you so much!”
“I appreciated your help. It was probably the toughest 2 consecutive days I’ve had in a very long time – BUT, Steve you helped me get thru. Late Friday [I heard from the lawyers that I had done well]. Now onto trial. Thanks again.” “Thank you again ever so much [for your prep] on the [recent] case – the lawyer thinks I’m brilliant and I owe you tremendous credit for that!”
“I wanted to thank you so much for your time, it was immeasurable. I appreciate the sensitivity you demonstrated for the particulars of this case. So, again, thank you for your efforts, it was truly a fascinating experience, not to mention extremely helpful.” “Prep went great today. Thanks to our session, I had my ten pages of great prep material which [retaining counsel] clearly appreciated and were impressed by. I essentially lead the prep and I think [retaining lawyers] clearly saw how seriously [our firm] take[s] testimony and how prepared we are. I felt very studied and prepared. Thanks again”
“Things went very well with my testimony. Your [preparation session] was immensely helpful in dealing with both retaining and opposing counsel.”
“Thank you for your help – [my depo] couldn’t have gone better!!!”
“Very helpful and worthwhile. They asked me everything you said they would and I was very well prepared to answer their questions. ”
“You are amazing.”
“My Depo on the case was yesterday and was 7 hours. Counsel said I did fine, good job!…the preparation paid off…The case settled on the courthouse steps, big win for my client… Since [your prep] I have received about 10 new assignments…too much to handle, almost. Thank you again!”
“Our expert] rocked it today! Thanks 4 Ur Help”
“I was very pleased with your preparation of our expert witness. The information protocol you suggested will be very beneficial. I have already recommended your services to other counsel.”
“3 words. Ate Their Lunch. You’re the best.”
“Your prep helped immensely … I would not have thought of all I needed had I not done that…I did MUCH better thanks to you!! Much appreciated!!!!!”