WITNESS STATEMENTS: THE PREQUEL TO THE "ESSENTIAL CHECKLIST"

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1. 

   anicoll5 · May 28, 2014 at 12:59:44 · →

   You asked last night if it would be beneficial for expert witnesses to undergo “training”.

   I would be very cautious of going down that route.

   Let me try to explain why.

   First, I am engaged as an expert by a party or as a joint expert to answer a question or number of questions.

   To do that I need to be competent in the topic (s) that I am asked about and, if the answer is not an ‘off the shelf’ response, to know how to tackle the research or calculation to produce the answer. If I can’t answer the question then I am the wrong expert and must say so. As happens from time to time if a question is unanswerable, in my view, then I must say so.

   I do not think that a training course would help me with that process.

   Second, I need to be able to produce my answers in a form that is intelligible/useful to the parties and the Court.

   It takes time and effort to produce a format that works, and as an expert you constantly try to develop and improve the way you present your answers and evidence.

   I would be delighted if there was a course that could improve my powers of expression and accelerate the process. I have never ever found one or heard of one. If there was such a course for experts, or lawyers, it would be heavily oversubscribed.

   Third, above the points of competence and presentation there is honesty. I have to tell the truth in my answers, and to be try to be fair and thorough.

   And I do not see a training course will teach me to do that if that nucleus is missing in the first place.

   I am however open to persuasion 🙂

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