THE LEGAL EXPERT WITNESS NETWORK
CAN YOU SEE THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM?
What are some of the guises of the elephant?
In the context of expert witnesses, the elephant in the room can be a good thing or a bad thing: good if it's your opponent's; bad if it's yours. The biggest problem is whether anyone can see it, or admit seeing it. The elephant in the room usually meets one or more of three criteria:
- Undiscovered
- Unacknowledged
- Undealt with
A few of the "elephants" that may warrant your attention include:
- Previous testimony that contradicts your client's position in the current case
- A blatant error in your expert witness' CV (even an honest mistake)
- An attitude that won't play well with a jury...or a judge
- A previous Daubert or Frye challenge that resulted in the disqualification of your expert witness
- A lack of experience as a testifying expert witness
The Elephant in YOUR Room
If the elephant accompanies YOUR expert witness, you can't ignore it.
What are the three primary steps in dealing with your own expert witness's elephant?
- Thorough investigation of your expert witness to identify any problem of pachyderm proportion
- Determine the potential impact that the elephant may have on the success of your case
- Figure out how to correct, minimize, and/or mitigate the potential problem.
The Elephant in THEIR Room
The elephant in their room should not be hiding behind YOUR expert witness. YOUR expert witness should have been thoroughly vetted in the depth of detail found in our Vetted & Verified Expert Witness Reports. Vetted Finding the elephant in the room of your opposing expert witness is a GOOD thing. If you can uncover something about their expert witness that can diminish the impact of his or her testimony, or even lead to disqualification of the witness, you've already taken a big step toward a possible summary judgment or settlement in your client's favor, possibly even avoiding the rigors of trial.
The elephant lurking behind their expert witness can be the same as those mentioned above that can derail your own. But you have to FIND the elephant first. Our Vetted & Verified Expert Witness Reports are the comprehensive resource that can zero in on an expert witness's weaknesses.
