That deposition last week made me rethink everything about expert witnesses

Had a conversation with a senior partner after a depo went sideways because our expert couldn't explain his own report in plain english. He told me if you can't say it so a jury gets it in 30 seconds, your expert is just wasting everyone's time and money. Anyone else deal with experts who overcomplicate stuff to sound smart?

2 comments

2 Comments

walker.rowan1mo ago

Oh man, I had a guy once who spent like 15 minutes explaining the difference between "reliable" and "valid" during a depo and the opposing counsel just sat there smiling. By the time he was done, I think even the court reporter had dozed off. The worst part is I hired him because his CV was covered in fancy terms and now I can barely look at my own client without feeling like I wasted their retainer. I learned my lesson the hard way, now I ask every expert to explain their point to me like I'm a fifth grader before I put them on the stand.

evannelson1mo ago

@walker.rowan nailed it. Buddy of mine had an expert who needed three tries to define "aggregate data" and lost the whole case.