The 'Lectric Law Library's
Expert Witness & Consultant's
Reading Room

A Diverse Collection of materials About, For, By and Related To the increasingly important field of Legal Expert Witnesses & Consultants of all kinds. It includes resources on Using, Finding & Paying Experts; What they Can & Can't do; What's needed to become one; Rules, Laws & Court Decisions that effect them or their use; and Articles written by Expert Witnesses & Consultants spanning the wide range of their expertise.

All professions are conspiracies against the laity. - George Bernard Shaw

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Avoid Hassles - How to Effectively Deal with Experts
• A Judge's Practical Tips & Guidelines for the Expert Witness
• Tips for Experts: What's an Expert Witness; Preparation for Deposition
• Expert Witnesses / Consultants Billing and Business Practices - 1997 Survey
  An expert's a person who knows enough about what's going on to be really scared. - P.J. Plauger
  
  
• Some Tips on Using Expert Witnesses
• The Who, What, Where, Why & How to Best Utilize Experts
• What Expert Consultants Are and Do -- Knowing when You Need Them
• Discovering Opponent's Expert Consultant's Work under FedRCivP 26(b)(4)(B)
  

LAWS, RULES & CASES

• The Federal Rules of Evidence
  Articles VI - Witnesses, and VII - Opinions & Expert Testimony
  An expert is an ordinary man away from home giving advice. - Oscar Wilde
• Erickson v Newmar, 9th Cir '96
  Very Interesting; Ex Parte Contact w/ Adversary's Expert is 'Witness Tampering' & 'Unethical Conduct'
  If the world blows itself up, the last sound would be an expert saying it can't be done. - Peter Ustinov
• Kirk v Raymark, 3rd Cir '95
  Just being Consultant or Witness doesn't make Expert a Party's Agent
  An expert's someone who's never in doubt but often in error. - R. Rinkle
• US v Morales, 9th Cir '97
  Admitting Expert's Opinion Testimony on Defendant's Mental Element of Crime
  
  
  COSTS, COURT APPOINTMENT, Etc.
• Ledford v Sullivan, 7th Cir '97
  Reviews Need & Cost Issues Re Appointing Expert Witness' for Indigent Pro Se, 15k
• Pedraza v Jones, 5th Cir '95
  No Appointed Expert Witness for poor Pro Se Plaintiff
• McKinney v Anderson, 9th Cir '91
  2nd-hand Smoke Prisoner Plaintiff entitled to Court Appointed Expert
• Crawford v Gibbons, Supreme's '87
  Winner's Expert Witness Reimbursement Limited to 28 USC 1821(b)'s $30 a Day
  
  
  EXPERT SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE STANDARDS
• Daubert v Merrell Dow Pharm., Supreme's '93
  Landmark that set new 'Relevant' & 'Reliable' Standard for Expert Scientific Evidence
• McKendall v Crown, 9th Cir '97
  Daubert for 'Scientific' Knowledge - Not Testimony from Experience or Training
• McKendall v Crown 9/97 Story from Nat'l Law Journal
• G.E. v Joiner, Supremes '97
  1st 'Post-Daubert' case, Sept. Hearing article & Dec. Decision Syllabus
  
• District Courts as Gatekeepers under Daubert
• Federal pre-Daubert Standard of Expert Reliability
• Assessing Daubert's Relevance & Reliability Elements
• Some Solutions to Novel Federal Expert Evidence Problems
• Daubert - Creating More Confusion Interpreting Federal Evidence Rules
  

FIELDS OF EXPERTISE

• Methods to Properly Value Businesses
• Using FBI Experts on Civil Rights Matters
• Use of Experts in Divorce Litigation on the Rise
• Determining the Injured Plaintiff's Economic Losses
• Multiple Chemical Sensitivities - Fact, Fiction, Disability & the Lawk
  
• Using Environmental Engineers as Forensic Experts
• Using Economists as Experts on Loss and Damage Issues
• Using an Independent Expert Consultant in Banking Litigation
• Finding & Using a Negligent Premises Security Case Expert Effectively
  
• The Importance of Employer Safety Programs
• Airbag Malfunction Injuries & Suits on the Rise
• Amusement Rides -- Pushing the Safety Envelope
• Handling Dog-Bite Cases takes Skill & Expertise
• Changing Particle Accelerator Radiation Protection Regs
• Follow the Paper Trail - Secret Warranties in Auto Related Cases
  
  
  MEDICAL EXPERTISE
• Physician Assistant Expert Witnesses: A Guide for Attorneys & Experts
• Experts needed for Coming Flood of "Wellness" Industry Litigation
• Physician Assistants as Expert Consultants & Witnesses
• Establishing Medical Standard of Care & Breach Without Experts
• Using Medical Experts to Establish Standards of Care in Malpractice Cases
• First, Kill All the Experts: Problems w/ Medical Experts & a Proposed Solution
  An expert's someone who can take something you already knew and make it sound confusing. - R. Rinkle

  See Our Law & Medicine Topic Area for much more on Medical Experts, Malpractice issues, etc.

Hell If We Know What, If Anything, These Mean:
You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy. - Drilling experts to Edwin Drake, 1859
Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction. - Pierre Pachet, Physiology Prof. at Toulouse, 1872
This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings... The device is inherently of no value. - Western Union, 1876
Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. - Lord Kelvin, Royal Society Pres., 1895
Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau. - Irving Fisher, Prof. of Economics, Yale Univ., '29
I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable falling on his face and not me. - Gary Cooper rejecting lead in 'Gone With The Wind'
I think there's a world market for maybe five computers. - Thomas Watson, IBM chairman, '53
We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out. - Decca Records rejecting the Beatles, '62
There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home. - Ken Olson, Pres. & founder of DEC, '77
640K ought to be enough for anybody. - Bill Gates, '81

Need a Lawyer? Check Out The 'Lectric Law Library's Searchable Attorney Directory
& our Searchable Expert Witness Directory

There's plenty of related stuff scattered all around the Library,
such as our General Litigation Matters Topic Area, Forms Room and Bookstore
so please feel free to wander around and explore.

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      Most wonderful experience of my life! Almost made me want to read that Constitution Thing. -- W. Rehnquist

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No one connected with the 'Lectric Law Library, including Sponsors, Advertisers, & Content Providers,
necessarily Endorses, Warrants or Approves of any of its material.   Also, Library content is NOT meant
to provide Specific Legal Advice, or to Solicit or Establish Any Kind of Professional-Client Relationship.

[Last Revised 02/09]