Qualifying & Attacking Expert Witnesses
by Robert C. Clifford
Reduce the Credibility and Effectiveness of Your Opponent's Expert
Proficiency studies for many types of expert analysis show a disturbingly large number of mistakes. Intelligent probing can uncover many of these mistakes.
Let Robert Clifford’s Qualifying & Attacking Expert Witnesses show you how to dig deep for unreliable testimony, no matter how sterling the expert’s credentials. The book details dozens of high-potential attacks, including:
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Failure to consider other causes
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Subjective testing
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Insufficient sample
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Anecdotal evidence
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Temporal relationship
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Erroneous extrapolation
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Research prepared for litigation
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And others
Perhaps no litigation task is more important than diluting the effect of the opposition’s expert. Qualifying & Attacking Expert Witnesses devotes 200 pages to tactics, cases, and checklists specific to these experts:
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Appraisers
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Contractors
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Criminologists
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Doctors
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Document examiners
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Economists
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Employment experts
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Insurance experts
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Linguists
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Psychologists
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Physical facts experts
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Transportation engineers
The book's organization makes it easy to find information you need and tactics that will work. Example Q & A illustrate methods of attack specific to different types of experts. Bulleted lists of practice-proven tactics are found every few pages. Much of the book's advice is boiled down into step-by-step checklists. Key points are well-supported with detailed relevant cases.
Just a few of the tips and tactics found in the book include:
Selection
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Finding persuasive experts. §130
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Controlling expert witness costs. §151
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Cheap substitutes for experts. §152
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Avoiding conflicts of interest. §160
Discovery
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Deposition preparation. §202
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Deposition instructions for your expert. §211
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Disclosure of expert’s work product. §242
Trial
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Sample voir dire questions. §301.1
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Qualification questions that keep the jury focused. §334
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Presentation checklist. §330
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Demonstrative evidence rules and considerations. §332
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Daubert tactics. §345.2
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Challenges to computer-generated information §346, government reports §346A, and industry standards §347
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Objections to cross-examination. §348
Attacking the expert
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Pretrial challenges to scientific expert testimony. §406
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Checklist for establishing unreliability. §415
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Preparing the expert witness trial binder. §422
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Checklist of bases for motion in limine. §423.1.4
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Grounds for disqualifying the opposing expert. §424 et seq
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Objections to direct testimony. §425
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Checklist for effective cross-examination. §431
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Fruitful areas of cross-examination. §433
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Tactics for showing lack of basis for opinion. §443
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Restricting demonstrative evidence. §470
Use expert witness testimony to your advantage, even your opponent's expert. This briefcase-sized book offers tactics, checklists and case law that make easy work of preparing to deal with expert witnesses from initial discovery to trial.
Updated annually. ISBN 0-938065-39-4 Book price: $99.00
C7
Reviews
"It is likely that the lawyer who has not read Robert Clifford’s book will not have met that high standard of careful preparation."
—C. Carlsen, Jr., Portland, OR
Related Titles:
Preparing for Trial in Federal Court
Updated 01/09/12
