FROMTHE EXPERTS
FROMTHE EXPERTS
EFFECTIVE CROSS-EXAMINATION OF THE ADVERSE EXPERT IN TORT CASES By Guy O. Kornblum
Confronting the expert adverse to your client’ s case provides an opportunity for you to utilize cross-examination skills that are“ textbook”. In most cases, the primary goal will be to ask disciplined and focused questions that pin the witness down and avoid any elaboration. The purpose is to neutralize the expert’ s influence on the outcome of the case. Rarely does the skill of cross-examination lead to a“ destruction” of the adverse expert as a factor in the case. We leave that result to the movies or TV, although there are occasions in“ real life” where this can be the result of any effective cross-examination.
14 The Trial Lawyer
Most effective cross-examinations of adverse experts are successful because they limit the expert’ s influence on a case because they restrict the opinions so that they have little influence on the trier of fact, establish a lack of objectivity( i. e. a biased view), or obtain helpful admissions which can contribute to the case of the examiner’ s client.
So, let’ s discuss the basics of this aspect of trial work and see what the best tools are for accomplishing what I have described. Remember with an expert you are taking on a witness who presumably knows more about the subject matter than you, so factor that in while planning your approach to that witness. It may be best to focus on peripheral areas of weakness( such as qualifications, familiarity with the opposition, misunderstanding of the relevant facts) that allow you to chip away at the basis for the opinions stated rather than the opinions themselves. In this way, you can challenge the underpinnings of the expert’ s testimony and set the stage to argue that it should not be given weight by the trier of fact.