Excerpted from the text  How to Prepare Your Expert Witness for Deposition

© 2012 SEAK, Inc.  ISBN: 978-1-892904-37-9 by James J. Mangraviti, Jr., Esq. and Steven Babitsky, Esq.

 Advertising/Marketing/Promotion

  • You do advertise that, for a price, you are available to testify, correct?
  • You advertise yourself as an expert for hire, is that correct?
  • You promote yourself as an expert witness by using a website?
  • You are represented by an expert witness referral agency that obtains work for you through advertising, emails, sponsorships, and bulk mail solicitations, is that correct?
  • How do you promote your expert witness practice?
  • Is this a copy of the ad you use to promote your expert witness business in Trial magazine?
  • Do you solicit expert witness work from both plaintiffs and defendants?

FREE DOWNLOAD: 247 Sample Deposition Questions for Expert Witnesses

 

Advocacy

  • You are here as an advocate for the plaintiff, correct?
  • What do you think your purpose and function are in this case?
  • Do you think the party that retained you should prevail?
  • At trial you will try and persuade the jury, correct?
  • Are you trying to help retaining counsel win the case?
  • Should the jury be suspicious of expert witnesses who offer diametrically opposed opinions?
  • You have testified in 38 different states as an expert witness.  Is that correct?
  • You spend 100% of your professional time consulting with attorneys and working on lawsuits, correct?
  • You are a professional expert witness, correct?
  • Do you enjoy being an expert witness?
  • Do you think the defendant in this case should prevail?
  • Are some lies permissible in your own personal code of conduct?
  • Did you assist retaining counsel in preparing his case?
  • What did you do to prepare for your testimony here today?
  • When was the last time you lost a case?
  • Are you aware that you are under oath and that your responses will in essence become part of your permanent record that can be brought up in all future cases that you testify in?
  • Would you like your side to win this case?
  • Whom do you represent?

Assumptions

  • What are all the assumptions you made in the case?
  • If the factual assumptions you based your opinion on were incorrect, would you change your opinion?
  • If the assumptions on which your opinion is based were to change, could that change your opinion?
  • If you were to assume the examinee lied to you, would that change your opinion?
  • Did you verify the facts provided to you by Attorney Smith?
  • Your opinion is based on the assumption that the road was dry, correct?
  • You would agree with me that there are circumstances in which employees who are under the influence of alcohol or intoxicating substances have poor judgment in terms of the safety that they use on a work site?
  • What assumptions did you make in reviewing the records in this case?
  • Do you know why counsel hired an expert witness who lives 1,500 miles from here to testify in this case?

 Authoritative Texts

  • What are the reliable texts in this field?
  • What are the authoritative textbooks in this area?
  • Do you consider the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders to be authoritative?
  • Do you consider any text authoritative in the field of the evaluation of permanent impairment?
  • You stated that your opinion was supported by “the literature.”  What literature are you referring to?
  • Which journals are the most authoritative in this area?

Bias

  • You testify mostly for plaintiffs, do you not?
  • Have you ever lied?
  • You testify for the party that pays you, correct?
  • In all of the other forklift cases in which you have testified, you have always blamed the operator for the accident, correct?
  • Why didn’t you report your findings of an unreasonably dangerous product to the Consumer Products Safety Commission?
  • You believe the tort system should be reformed, do you not?
  • As an expert, you hold yourself out as an authority for the side that’s presenting a particular proposition in this legal case, correct?
  • Who is your client in this case and what duty do you owe your client?
  • If the other side in this case called you first, would you have accepted the assignment?
  • If the plaintiff loses this case, will you still be paid the fee due to you?
  • What is confirmatory bias?

James J. Mangraviti, Jr., Esq., has trained thousands of expert witnesses through seminars, conferences, corporate training, and training for professional societies.  He is also frequently called by experts, their employers, and retaining counsel to train and prepare individual expert witnesses for upcoming testimony.  Mr. Mangraviti is a former litigator with experience in defense and plaintiff personal injury law and insurance law.  He currently serves as Principal of the expert witness training company SEAK, Inc. (www.testifyingtraining.com ).  Mr. Mangraviti received his BA degree in mathematics summa cum laude from Boston College and his JD degree cum laude from Boston College Law School.  He is the co-author of numerous books on expert witnessing, including: How to Prepare Your Expert Witness for Deposition; How to Become a Dangerous Expert Witness: Advanced Techniques and Strategies; The A–Z Guide to Expert Witnessing; Depositions: The Comprehensive Guide for Expert Witnesses; How to Write an Expert Witness Report; and How to Market Your Expert Witness Practice: Evidence-Based Best Practices.  Mr. Mangraviti was the co-founder in 2000 of SEAK’s Expert Witness Directory (www.seakexperts.com ), which is an often-used national resource for attorneys to locate expert witnesses.  He can be reached at 978-276-1234 or jim@seak.com.

 

Steven Babitsky, Esq., is the President of SEAK, Inc.  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, the Federal Aviation Administration, and has worked with numerous forensic and financial companies including Fortune 500 companies. Mr. Babitsky is the co-author of the texts How to Prepare Your Expert Witness for Deposition; How to Become a Dangerous Expert Witness: Advanced Techniques and Strategies; How to Write an Expert Witness Report; The A–Z Guide to Expert Witnessing; and How to Market Your Expert Witness Practice: Evidence-Based Best 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.  Mr. Babitsky trains hundreds of experts every year.  He may be contacted at 508-548-9443 or stevenbabitsky@seak.com.