Effective Expert Witnessing: Practices for the 21st Century - Hardcover

Matson, Jack V.; Daou, Suha F.; Soper, Jeffrey G.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0849313015 ISBN 13: 9780849313011

Publisher: Routledge, 2004

Synopsis

The testimony of an expert witness can lead to success or failure in cases that hinge on the presentation’s impact on a jury. Effective Expert Witnessing, Fifth Edition: Practices for the 21st Century explores the fundamentals of litigation, trial preparation, courtroom presentation, and the business of expert witnessing. Extensively updated to reflect new developments since the last edition, it provides practical advice enabling expert witnesses and attorneys to maximize the effectiveness of their expert testimony.

The Fifth Edition includes three new chapters. The first uses a hypothetical case study to explore expert witness immunity and issues related to professional malpractice and civil liability. In a chapter on psychology and the art of expert persuasion, noted social psychologist and witness preparation specialist Ann T. Greeley reveals the psychology of juries, discusses what makes an expert effective, and provides tips for conveying effective testimony through verbal and nonverbal behavior and graphics and technology. The final chapter surveys nine of the worst mistakes an expert can make and provides tips on how to avoid them.

Accompanying the book are downloadable resources in which Dr. Matson introduces video clips demonstrating effective and ineffective expert testimony at deposition and trial. The book and supplemental downloadable resources provide robust strategies ensuring that expert witnesses have the best possible advantage in presenting testimony that is credible, persuasive, and compelling.

About this title

Review

Praise for the Previous Edition:

"Effective Expert Witnessing is a well-conceived and well-written book that organizes the often seemingly chaotic proceedings of litigation into a logical, structured, step-by-step process, one that individuals outside the legal community can readily understand. The numerous suggestions and analyses presented by the authors serve to bridge the gap between scientific expert witnesses and the legal community. The case studies highlight the impact and importance of the interrelationships of the fields of science, health care, and the law. This book is recommended for individuals possessing scientific knowledge and expertise who contemplate undertaking the role of a consulting or testifying expert witness. In addition, physicians who are summoned to testify in a court of law, and attorneys involved in various kinds of medical-legal litigation will find this book an especially useful reference."
―Journal of Legal Medicine

About the Author

Jack V. Matson, Ph.D., is emeritus professor of environmental engineering at The Pennsylvania State University and an owner of Matson and Associates Inc., a litigation support consulting engineering firm, in State College, Pennsylvania. His expertise is in the field of chemical emissions, water and wastewater treatment, air pollution, and hazardous wastes. In the course of his career, he has been deposed in over 100 cases and testified at 20 trials. He continues to be active as an expert witness in environmental litigation, specializing in chemical emissions. He is a registered professional engineer in Pennsylvania, Texas, and Ohio.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0849313015
• ISBN 13: 9780849313011
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 160