Merrie Joe Pitera PhD, CEO of Litigation Insights recently spoke on how expert witnesses can deliver more effective and persuasive testimony. Here is an excerpt of her presentation Some other behaviors that can affect whether a witness is viewed as being untruthful, evasive or defensive are: Rapid blinking; Witness needs to buy some time to… read more

By Gretchen Green, MD, MMS What is a breast implant? A breast implant is an implanted device used to augment existing breast tissue for cosmetic purposes or to reconstruct the breast after surgery such as mastectomy. Litigation from alleged harm due to breast implants is not new, but recently a new form of lymphoma thought… read more

In many cases the expert is the linchpin, the cleanup hitter.  And jurors really do want to trust and rely on them to guide their decisions. So if opposing experts are giving conflicting information, your case may hinge on whoever jurors feel came out ahead on credibility and performance.  When it’s their expert vs. your… read more

BY: MERRIE JO PITERA, PH.D. – CEO What witnesses say through the course of their testimony can make or break counsel’s ability to effectively argue a case. While a witness may have excellent credentials and a persuasive message to tell, his/her display of certain undesirable characteristics can cause jurors to not believe the witness, even… read more

BY: MERRIE JO PITERA, PH.D. & CHRISTINA MARINAKIS, J.D., PSY.D. The usefulness of any witness depends largely on his or her credibility with the jury.  This is especially true for expert witnesses whose testimony is often pitted against that of an opposing counsel’s expert. In these instances, each expert’s credibility may determine which of their… read more

Introduction Artificial intelligence, machine learning and neural networks are continuously in the news. Beyond self-driving cars and movie recommendations, AI is used in an increasingly broad set of applications. For example: Fraud litigation prediction (1) Predicting whether construction projects will go wrong (2) Cyber-forensics (3) Radiology research (4) using image networks designed to learn by… read more

Patent litigation – on both the plaintiff’s and defense sides – often requires detailed examination of source code. Determining whether a product infringes a patent is increasingly a question of software. Why is this, and what should a litigator look for in a source code review expert witness? A prescient article In 2011, Marc Andreessen,… read more

Frequently in patent litigation, the outcome hinges on the quality and quantity of prior art. Research into prior art is valuable in District Court cases, those before the International Trade Commission (ITC), and at the Patent Trials and Appeals Board (PTAB). Common sources of prior art for medical imaging and medical device patent experts When… read more

By Steven Babitsky, Esq. The 7 deadly sins, which can help ruin or destroy an expert witness’s career are: 1. Greed 2. Sloth 3. Wrath 4. Pride 5. Arrogance 6. Envy 7. Gluttony • Experts do not intentionally fall prey to these sins but often succumb gradually on a slippery slope. • Experts are well-advised… read more

When physicians conclude that a car accident victim needs radiofrequency ablations (RFAs) for life, the court may intervene to limit this testimony. The US District Court (E.D. Louisiana) dealt with physicians who opined that the plaintiff would need RFAs for the remainder of his life. The life care planner relied on this opinion to formulate… read more