by Kathy Fortune M.D.

Created on: November 06, 2009

The expert witness is an important participant in a jury trial and is present in the courtroom to clarify technical information for the judge or jury.

The expert should describe standards of care relevant to the current case and render a professional opinion to the judge and jury. This opinion should be unbiased and independent, as an expert witness is not an advocate.

In addition to knowing the existing case, the expert should be familiar with similar cases in the professional literature. For example, if an article has been published that disagrees with the expert's opinion, rest assured that the opposing attorney will be aware of it. Experts must be prepared to defend an opinion in spite of any article.

The expert should tell the jury what they are going to say, say it, then tell the jury what was said. The witness should also clearly state why they disagree with other testimony that has been presented to the Court.

Avoiding exaggerations and acknowledging that there may be more than one point of view is important, however, an expert should never answer a question that has not been asked or provide information that has not been requested.

The expert should tell the jury what they are going to say, say it, and then tell the jury what was said. The witness should also clearly state why they disagree with other testimony that has been presented to the Court.

If a deposition was held prior to trial, the expert should expect to be questioned about it. An attorney can refer back to the expert's words out of context and try to impeach the witness. Impeach means that the lawyer will try to show that the expert said one thing at one time and another thing at another time. This would technically make the expert untruthful and the entire testimony could be thrown out of court.

The expert can change a point of view after a deposition, but if so, the expert must state that they did believe certain information to be true at the time of deposition, but after further thought and consideration, they now believe the current opinion to be the truth.

If an expert does not know the answer to a question, they should simply say so.

Leading questions can be tricky. Attorneys will ask questions like "Isn't it true and wouldn't you agree?" The attorney is only asking half of a question. The strategy of leading questions is to set up a trap which when sprung will have the expert seeming to support the opposing point of view. The expert's job is to present the whole answer to the partial

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