The Top 3 Deposition Rules for Expert Witnesses
Though Shall:
Collect Thy Retainer
Get They Facts … On the Record
Wear Thy Armor and Be Prepared
𝗠𝘆 𝟯 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝘆: (𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘶𝘱 #2 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦t)
:
1) Collect a retainer several weeks in advance
• Your time is valuable
• Your preparation effort is valuable
• Your lost clinical revenue is valuable
𝘽𝙤𝙣𝙪𝙨: Make the retainer non-refundable
The following is expensive:
• Using a personal day
• Finding clinic coverage
• Postponing an afternoon's surgeries
𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗴
2) Know your case facts, theories, and timeline cold
• Your narrative will be contested
• Your timeline will be challenged heavily
• Your factual interpretation will be undermined
𝘽𝙤𝙣𝙪𝙨: Stick to the medicine and learn to interject
Learn to counter-strike with:
• "No, <insert follow-up>"
• "That misstates my testimony, what occurred..."
• "That isn't what I said, instead what happened ..."
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁
3) Prepare to be viciously scrutinized
• Nasty insinuations will be lobbied
• Answers to personal matters will be demanded
• Personal attacks on perceived weaknesses will occur
𝘽𝙤𝙣𝙪𝙨: Stay cool, confident, controlled
Know the common undermining inquiries
❓Question: Do I advertise?
✅Answer: "I once used SEAK, but I didn't renew it after my first year ..."
❓Question: Am I a professional expert witness?
✅Answer: "I am in full-time clinical practice and take full call ... of course not ..."
❓Question: Aren't I a hired gun?
✅Answer: "I review the case for whoever contacts me first, be it plaintiff or defense ... then I speak unbiasedly about the medicine."
Depositions are hard work
And the knives truly do come out
It's here that the quality expert stands out
Allowing attorneys and their jury consultants
To make critical settlement versus trial calculations
It never is or was "a casual exchange of information"
𝘽𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙.
𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙥𝙨𝙮𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣?
