Be Prepared for Testimony With an Expert Deposition Checklist

I have a 3rd degree black belt in jujitsu, with many related studies of other martial disciplines. Skills I learned in the dojo have served me quite well over the years of being an expert witness. One attorney even hired me for a 250 million dollar lawsuit because he felt that this background would enable me to more calmly react to what he expected to be an aggressive testimonial experience for any expert.

What may be simple for me to resist might be impossible for someone without the necessary preparation. This applies equally well to a physical attack by an opponent on the mat or a verbal attack from a lawyer in a deposition or trial. Anticipation of these kind of questions is fundamental to a martial artist's training. As an expert witness, you will need to similarly anticipate what lawyers may ask you regarding your work, your background, your investigation, your report, and your testimony.

Lawyers often prepare their questions by creating a starter series of generic questions in the form of a checklist. You should peruse the Expert Deposition Checklist found at the link in the resource box below.

Although your C.V. may already contain many of the answers, you should expect that they may ask you in deposition or trial to answer these questions nevertheless. Lawyers will often start by asking you personal questions regarding your professional background and job experience. You should know these things instantly. Questions about education, licenses, and certifications are also fair game, and you should have the answers at the tip of your tongue. Questions about your publication history and any prior expert witness experience are natural follow on questions. You should equally be instantly conversant and ready to answer confidently about all of these. If you were a attorney, what would you think of an expert who hemmed and hawed about a book (s)he spent a year writing, or a job (s)he spent three years working at?

You should have kept careful records regarding your specific retention in each matter in which you are an expert, and in which you have been retained as either an expert witness or expert consultant. You should be fully ready to express your expert opinions when asked. As the questioning becomes more detailed, and the dangers of weak responses become more obvious, you need to have pre-thought out reasonable answers to potential questions. For example, the Checklist ends with a section about verbal directions from attorneys. Some of the possible conversations you had with your retaining attorney may be problematic, and some of the potential actions of your retaining attorney could very well be damaging, such as attempts to influence the specific content of your expert report.

The checklist does not contain the answers. But it does include a significant number of questions that lawyers are taught to ask or consider asking. If you read through it with an eye toward your own answers, you will be well prepared for the possibilities. Your success during depositions and trials relies greatly on preparation and anticipation, exactly as it does in a martial arts context. All in all, the referenced expert deposition checklist is a useful resource for your preparations for both depositions and trials. Read it completely to better prepare for the scope of an attorney's questions in both settings.

Judd Robbins has been an internationally recognized expert witness since 1986 in the US and in the UK. He has testified in State and Federal courts and has been featured as a testifying computer forensics expert on MSNBC, Court TV, and Tech TV. His cases range widely from intellectual property infringement to murder. He has been a best-selling author of more than 30 training and computer books and has created more than 25 training DVDs and videos. Robbins has advanced degrees from UC Berkeley and the University of Michigan, has been an Information Systems manager and an Education Systems manager, and consults in both computer and legal issues. Mr. Robbins has created a series of books and other training materials for expert witnesses. This and other details about Mr. Robbins can be found at http://www.juddrobbins.com

The original deposition checklist can be found on the web at:
http://www.daubertontheweb.com/Deposition_Checklist.htm

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