CRC EXPT WITNSING SCITF TSTMNY PDF

Preface

I've been battered, I've been flattered, I've been bruised, I've been embarrassed, I've been bloodied, I've been thanked, I've been cajoled, I've been attacked, I've been befriended, I've been accused of acting, I've been called a charlatan, I've been called sneaky, I've been called a whore, but I've continued to survive as a paid expert witness.

Thirty years' experience in both part-time and full-time litigation-support activity has convinced me of the need to write this book. I've also run an active safety and industrial hygiene consulting practice that actually prompted the writing of this collection of helpful hints and observations. Also, this book can serve as a guide for those who are inadvertently dragged into the legal system or are professional expert witnesses. Although the preponderance of examples is drawn from an expert witness practice heavily weighted by asbestos cases, the information is applicable to other types of cases.

Involvement in legal issues, either as a percipient witness or expert witness, 1 has many virtues, and just as many negative aspects. These can only be learned by being involved and facing the challenges posed in actual cases that involve you, or into which you become entangled. Each new case can pose a learning experience regardless of how often the circumstance or incident has been examined previously. Finding and excavating that "smoking gun" piece of evidence after tedious hours of case review brings satisfaction far beyond any fees or hourly wage earned. Examining the actions-or inaction- of both professionals and nonprofessionals in residential, commercial, or industrial environments often serves as a lesson of what not to do in your own activities.

The negative aspects aren't the same for all those who have to be involved in litigation or engage in expert-witness work. A key aspect of being a witness is that you are fair game during cross-examination questioning. In a major case, when suing for "big dollar" amounts, you can expect to have your life history opened up like a road map, with all the detours and potholes pointed out vividly to the jury. Cross-examination is grueling to some, an enjoyable session of repartee to others. The tedium of long hours in deposition, during which your fundamental beliefs are attacked to a point of abstraction, can put off many professionals and nonprofessionals alike who would otherwise be excellent witnesses for either side of a complex litigation. A physician I know who was tangentially involved in a medical-malpractice case referred to his experience as "having an enema tube inserted in one ear and my brains washed out of the other."

The primary role of the expert witness is to make clear and simple, to the trier of fact , a complex technical or scientific issue that would be normally beyond their expected understanding. The primary role of a percipient witness is to tell the truth!

I've attempted to make this primer to the world of litigation an exercise in enjoyable reading, spiced with actual cases, experiences, and pitfalls so that some of the tension of not knowing will be dispersed. I hope it serves to educate and clarify the mysteries of litigation for any of you who are willingly or unwillingly drawn into it. If my weak attempts at humor fail to elicit even a modicum of mirth, keep on going, as the other material is worth reading.

Although I make numerous efforts to explain the legal environment, I am not an attorney, nor do I profess any legal skill beyond that which I have acquired through osmosis in my years of trial and deposition witnessing. This book is not intended to be a legal textbook nor to replace the advice of local counsel regarding any applicable statutes or procedures that may apply to you. The background I bring to the following observations and recommendations is solely from battling the legal wars for many years-in some cases losing, but most often winning. When you run with horses or swim with fish, you don't instantly become one, but you do eventually learn how they move!

Throughout this book there will be legal or scientific words and phrases that may be somewhat foreign to you and may need an explanation. Please use the litigation glossary and/or notes at the back of the book to ferret out these unknowns.