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Taking the stand

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16 October 2014 / Catherine Cameron
Issue: 7626 / Categories: Features , Expert Witness , Profession
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Catherine Cameron suggests that only the paranoid survive

Who would be an expert witness? A question many have asked after seeing some poor expert made to look a right chump by a smart litigating lawyer. The expert could have many years of experience–a true expert in their field–with a report in hand that they were proud of–until now, standing in the witness box, wishing the ground would swallow them up.

The lawyer has taken a couple of minor points that the expert didn’t spend much time on, has blown them out of all proportion, and made the points (and the expert) sound ridiculous. The cross examiner has taken a scalpel (no need for a sledge hammer) to humiliate the expert. It is only one of many cross-examination techniques in the lawyer’s arsenal used to undermine an expert’s testimony and credibility. A good cross-examiner has many such weapons and they try to use them to great effect to make the expert look unprepared, incompetent, dishonest, or all of the above.

To some, being cross

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