I was recently a guest on a podcast called Discussions at the Round Table. The podcast is put on by the Round Table Group. The Group is a premier expert referral service. It locates, vetts, and engages expert witnesses in complex litigation matters. I was asked to talk about my work as a practicing lawyer with experts over the years.
For most of my career, I was a national mass tort defense lawyer. I had the chance to work with all sorts of experts in all types of cases and jurisdictions. Some of these experts were better, and some were worse. And the fact that the rules concerning what must be disclosed and how detailed expert reports must be sometimes made working with experts complicated.
But in preparing for the podcast, I thought about some best practices to follow by experts and the lawyers working with them. I came up with ten practices that facilitate a good working relationship and, of course, lead to a better result. Here they are:
The best experts work with the lawyer and the facts and try to help. They identify problems in the case and with what they must opine. But good experts look for solutions instead of just leaving the problems for the lawyer to figure out how to solve on their own. The best experts and, for that matter, the best lawyers, are communicative and understandable. They don’t use jargon or fancy words. This trait works both ways, by the way. The lawyer needs to communicate with the expert without using legal jargon or fancy words as well. No latin. Please. The best experts and, of course, the best lawyers, are likable. They are interesting. They are the kind of people you want to go to dinner or have a
