When an attorney is looking into hiring an expert witness for a case, they would look for the qualities of the individual which they believe that will result for their clients to win the case. The quality of an engineering expert witness can widely range from excellent to poor. An attorney can spend a great amount of sum, just to get an expert opinion which is needed to prove the case they are working on.
When you talk about qualifications, it is obvious that educational background, skills, and work experience is one of those qualifications that indicates how suitable an expert is to the case. However, it should not stop to that, there are other intangible personal qualities to look into which are still considered important. Here are those qualities.
Confidence. An expert is examined usually by their opposing counsel, so that the other party would know how the pinion was concluded. In some cases, testifying in front of a jury or judge is needed. The goal of the witness is to make the people believe in them. Of course, a confident individual is easy to believe in, which makes confidence a key.
Consistency. Most expert witness are not only testifying one case, they could have lots of cases with them. This makes it possible for them to forget some of the things they have said on reports and depositions, making it inconsistent. When the person testifying is inconsistent, the opposing party may point this out so that they can diminish his or her opinions.
When you evaluate the industry expertise do not be too narrow. Having a specific knowledge about the industry at first is not always paramount. Those who have done a variety of cases already and practiced a number of disciplines usually brings complex issues a deeper understanding. These people can even adapt better when a case gets an inevitable twists and turns.
Attention to details. Details matter in litigation so the person must have a high level of attention to details. Failure in exercising high attention can result to being crushed during the examination since the person fail to properly examining the facts before the opinions are rendered. A common way to undercut his or her opinion is to point out the things that was done reviewed or done.
Trustworthiness. Your witness must be able to convince the other people. Being trustworthy starts with the appearance. That means, he or she must be dressed properly and professionally when in court. You can trust someone who is confidence and attentive all throughout. This also means, not ignoring the facts which makes your side unfavorable.
Good at communicating. Find a good communicator, someone who is comfortable and good at using the technical language. A person who is knowledgeable in such language can understand all the questions thrown at them and can easily answer, and can freely express himself or herself when speaking without reading notes.
Good at improvising. During litigation, they should be prepared to all the questions that will be possibly thrown at them. They must be prepared to all unexpected questions. Attorney tends to use hypothetical questions in grilling witnesses and wait for the witness to say I do not know. Pick someone who can answer those questions right away.
When you talk about qualifications, it is obvious that educational background, skills, and work experience is one of those qualifications that indicates how suitable an expert is to the case. However, it should not stop to that, there are other intangible personal qualities to look into which are still considered important. Here are those qualities.
Confidence. An expert is examined usually by their opposing counsel, so that the other party would know how the pinion was concluded. In some cases, testifying in front of a jury or judge is needed. The goal of the witness is to make the people believe in them. Of course, a confident individual is easy to believe in, which makes confidence a key.
Consistency. Most expert witness are not only testifying one case, they could have lots of cases with them. This makes it possible for them to forget some of the things they have said on reports and depositions, making it inconsistent. When the person testifying is inconsistent, the opposing party may point this out so that they can diminish his or her opinions.
When you evaluate the industry expertise do not be too narrow. Having a specific knowledge about the industry at first is not always paramount. Those who have done a variety of cases already and practiced a number of disciplines usually brings complex issues a deeper understanding. These people can even adapt better when a case gets an inevitable twists and turns.
Attention to details. Details matter in litigation so the person must have a high level of attention to details. Failure in exercising high attention can result to being crushed during the examination since the person fail to properly examining the facts before the opinions are rendered. A common way to undercut his or her opinion is to point out the things that was done reviewed or done.
Trustworthiness. Your witness must be able to convince the other people. Being trustworthy starts with the appearance. That means, he or she must be dressed properly and professionally when in court. You can trust someone who is confidence and attentive all throughout. This also means, not ignoring the facts which makes your side unfavorable.
Good at communicating. Find a good communicator, someone who is comfortable and good at using the technical language. A person who is knowledgeable in such language can understand all the questions thrown at them and can easily answer, and can freely express himself or herself when speaking without reading notes.
Good at improvising. During litigation, they should be prepared to all the questions that will be possibly thrown at them. They must be prepared to all unexpected questions. Attorney tends to use hypothetical questions in grilling witnesses and wait for the witness to say I do not know. Pick someone who can answer those questions right away.
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