Robert Hanlon Article on Deposing Expert Witnesses Published in For The Defense
Goldberg Segalla partner and co-chair of the firm’s Transportation practice group, Robert M. Hanlon Jr., wrote an article that was published in the January issue of the Defense Research Institute’s monthly magazine, For The Defense.
In the article, titled “A Rules-Based Approach to Deposing Expert Witnesses,” Robert presents a practical guide to help serve as a framework for the oftentimes daunting task of deposing expert witnesses.
Throughout the course of his career, Robert has deposed, presented, and cross-examined hundreds of expert witnesses. He regularly teaches trial advocacy as a faculty member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) National Trial College, and he has served on the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education panels addressing such topics as selecting, vetting, and preparing expert witnesses, among other topics.
For the sake of this article, Robert’s intent was to “take some of the mystery out of the process” by providing a structure based on what he calls the “two most important rules governing expert discovery” – Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26 and Federal Rule of Evidence 702.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26 details the requirements of the written report produced by a witness giving expert testimony, including all opinions the witness will express and the reasoning behind them, the qualifications of the witness, cases in which the witness testified or was deposed, as well as a statement of compensation to be paid for the testimony in the case.
Federal Rule of Evidence 702 governs the admissibility of expert opinion testimony, stating a “witness who is qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify in the form of an opinion” as long as it is likely the expert’s knowledge serves to help understand evidence or determine fact, testimony is based on sufficient facts or data, testimony is the product of reliable principles, and the opinion reflects a reliable application of the principles.
While summarizing the requirements of satisfying both rules, Robert also provides a list of very specific deposition questions attorneys can use to address them.
“Since the disclosure and admissibility of expert opinion testimony is governed by rules, it makes sense to utilize those rules when deposing experts,” he says.
“Hopefully this article provides a framework both for doing that and for preparing your own expert to testify.”
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE (subscription required)
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For The Defense (FTD) is DRI’s flagship publication and the only national monthly magazine specifically written for civil defense practitioners. FTD features articles centered on key developments and the latest trends in the law and civil litigation.
MORE ABOUT GOLDBERG SEGALLA’S ROBERT M. HANLON, JR.:
Robert co-chairs the firm’s Transportation practice group. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, an honor reserved for no more than 1% of the total lawyer population of any state or province. He concentrates his practice on the defense of product liability, transportation, and catastrophic personal injury litigation. He represents motor carriers, private fleet operators, and their insurers; and he serves as national coordinating counsel for a multi-national trucking and logistics company. In product liability matters, he represents manufacturers of automobiles and trucks, trailers, consumer products, and industrial equipment. He has defended cases involving nearly all aspects of automobile design and manufacture.