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
By Stephen Broomes MD Introduction Diagnostic errors are a failure to provide an accurate and timely explanation of the patient’s health problems or communicate that explanation to the patient (World Health Organization). Scope of the problem: Diagnostic errors affect an estimated 12 million Americans, and likely cause more harm to patients than all other medical… read more
How far can an attorney go in attacking and trying to discredit an expert witness? The U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Cir dealt with an attorney who in, in a used car dispute: …went after the plaintiff’s expert witness, Donald Szczesniak. Brodsky accused Szczesniak of fabricating expert reports in this and other cases, and he… read more
By: Stephen S. Saris, MD What is Trigeminal Neuralgia? Trigeminal Neuralgia is a pain condition which is typically caused by pressure on the brain nerve (cranial nerve) that gives feeling to the side of the face. Signals travelling through this trigeminal nerve cause debilitating and life-altering shock-like facial pain that lasts from seconds to hours…. read more
