Lawyers are increasingly videotaping the depositions of expert witnesses. These videos permit counsel to later play excerpts of the expert and show his demeanor, tone, and body language in addition to his words. David B. Markowitz, writing for SEAK, Inc., gave this advice on how to excel at your videotaped deposition. The camera magnifies and… read more
Darryl Smith, managing partner at Smith & Eulo Law Firm, tells us how he came to discover SEAK and what it means for his firm. It is often very hard to locate highly qualified, reliable experts that can help you build a strong defense to win your case. SEAK is one of the few resources… read more
How do attorneys in medical malpractice cases prove the standards of care through expert witnesses? In their article Locking in Standards of Care (Trial Magazine, August 2019), attorneys Christian C. Mester and Michael J. Winkelman recommend the following techniques: 1. Ask the right questions of medical experts to lock them down on the standards of… read more
Must an expert’s opinion be excluded if they do not cite any supporting professional literature? “Not necessarily,” said the Michigan Court of Appeals in Janowski v. Deere & Co., No. 340665 (Mich. Ct. App. Jul. 11, 2019). There, the Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court decision admitting testimony from a lawnmower expert in a… read more
Can opposing counsel require an expert witness to produce his 1099s as part of a discovery request? In Estate of Jackson v. Billingslea, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan ordered an accident reconstruction expert to produce 1099’s for himself and his business. Jackson involved deaths resulting from a speed police… read more
By: Stephen Saris, M.D. What is a Gamma Knife? The Gamma Knife is a medical device that focuses a very large amount of radiation on a lesion in the brain to shrink or destroy it. How does the Gamma Knife work? The best way to understand the Gamma Knife is to image an entertainer on… read more
By: Stephen Saris, M.D. Over the past decade, allegations of concussion have become commonplace in personal injury claims. I would estimate that they occur in 20% of the hundreds of slip/fall and vehicular cases that I have reviewed during that time. A concussion expert can review the pertinent information, usually gleaned from the first 24… read more
By: Stephen Saris, M.D. What is a pedicle screw malposition? Pedicle screws are used by spine surgeons as part of a fusion in which two adjacent bones in the spine are combined together as one. The intent is to provide relief from pain and nerve damage. One of the common means of doing so is… read more
Root cause analysis is frequently employed by litigants and expert witnesses to help them determine the root causes of accidents, IT failures, medical malpractice, etc. An excellent article “The Purpose, Process, and Protection of a Post-Accident Root Cause Analysis” appeared in the July 2019 issue of In the Defense. The authors, as the title suggests,… read more
Can counsel use evidence of an expert witness’s professional disciplinary history to challenge the expert’s credibility? The Indiana Supreme Court in Tunstall v. Manning, No. 195-CT-18 (Indiana Sup. Ct. June 26, 2019), said a limited yes. The Supreme Court held that the defendant in a personal injury action should have been able to introduce evidence… read more
