Expert witnesses should anticipate and be able to effectively deal with numerous areas of inquiry at their deposition. Here are some of the areas all experts should prepare for.

Advertising: What advertising or marketing have you done?

Bias: What biases can you be accused of (e.g. fees, hired fun, personnel, plaintiff/defense, political, etc.).

Credibility: Has your credibility over been successfully challenged?

CV: Is your CV up-to-date, completely accurate, and free of exaggerations or misleading characterizations?

Ethics: Have you followed the ethical standards of the organizations you belong to?

File: Have you produced your complete and entire file?

Impeachment: Have you written, posted, or given lectures inconsistent with your current position?

Investigation: Have you done a complete, thorough, and unbiased investigation?

Involvement in the Case: When were you first contacted and retained?

Methodology: Have you followed accepted methodology and are you able to explain this in an articulate fashion?

Money: Are your fees and billing procedures fair and reasonable?

Opinions: What opinions will you be offering and what will you not be opining on?

Qualifications: What makes you qualified to offer opinions in this case?

Report: Is your report accurate and do you stand by all of your conclusions?

Retaining Counsel: What interactions have you had with retaining counsel and what influence have they had in the forming of your opinions?

About the Author

Steven Babitsky Esq. is the President of SEAK, Inc, the testifying training company (www.testifyingtraining.com) and can be reached at stevenbabtisky@seak.com and 508-548-9443.