Working With Expert Witnesses: Legal and Ethical Obligations

This program, presented by Lindsay Tasher, Sam Tasher, and Steve Tasher of Wyatt Partners, will explore one of the most critical relationships in today's litigation/transaction arena – that between the client/counsel and the expert witness.  In today's legal market, work performed by expert witnesses can have a vital impact on overall outcomes – including the value of a transaction, the litigation settlement process, and both judge/jury trials. This seminar will delve into how and why this is so, the stages of this relationship (from hiring your expert to preparing them for a trial and beyond), the legal and ethical issues surrounding this relationship, and, finally, the best corporate and firm practices to handle them. Through discussions of case law, the Rules of Professional Conduct, and their widely diverse range of experience on these issues, our speakers will provide insights on a topic that affects everyone in today's legal and business market. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify best law firm/corporate practices in hiring your expert witness (including timing of retention, interviews, budgets, engagement agreements, and scopes of the assignment)
2. Review the exchange of necessary information to assist your expert
3. Discern the difference between working with experts who are attorneys versus non-attorneys
4. Discuss how to use your expert ethically to shape the strategy of your litigation/transaction
5. Examine how to work with your expert in connection with written work product and/or testimony
6. Explore how experts should bill their time (and how indemnity/insurance issues may factor into the billing process)
7. Analyze how the Rules of Professional Conduct apply to all of the above, including communication between client and counsel about the expert, and supervising/managing the expert over the course of the assignment