Dynamite Use of Expert Witnesses

They are called experts for a reason. Expert witnesses are fully informed on the topic at hand. Trial victory requires you to exploit that information to educate yourself and to educate your jury, or you must expose the fallacies proffered by your opponent’s experts.

In most situations, you can’t simply “buy” an expert with confidence that he or she has the gift to explain complex matters in understandable terms. You, the master of the case, must take the raw science of the expert and mold it into a persuasive, convincing argument. Steve Easton instructs you on how to find and manage informational or testifying experts, regardless of the issue at hand.

On the other side of that coin lies the trial lawyer’s fondest dream — destroying your opponent’s expert on cross. Brick by brick, you erode the foundation of that expert’s opinion. You expose inconsistencies and bias. You question methods and procedures. And eventually, if all goes your way, the jury will join you in the incredulity that this person would ever even speak in public, much less testify in a court of law!

Program Outline & Schedule
(3 hours including 1 ethics hour)

[Part I: 90 minutes]

Dynamite Use of Expert Witnesses

• Finding and hiring the best experts for your case
• Using experts to build your credibility
• Common mistakes, easily avoided

Experts and Ethics

[15 minute break]

[Part II: 90 minutes]

Keeping Your Opponent’s Experts Off the Stand

• The stakes: The importance of expert testimony
• Judicial attitudes: A recent shift
• Twenty questions for the evaluation of expert testimony
• Speak now… or forever hold your peace?

Destroying the Credibility of Professional Experts

• Preparing for the opposing expert’s cross-examination
• Establishing control during cross-examination
• Attacking the expert’s theory
• Establishing your credibility-destroying themes

[Adjourn]