Legal Solutions

An Expert Witness is a person who is qualified to give reliable expertise in a court of law on a specialized field. They are characterized as an expert because of their “knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education” (FRE Rule 702).

Expert opinion is used in cases to relay facts about a specialized field to a judge or jury. An expert’s testimony is based on objective data that provides information when a case concerns material that is difficult for a courtroom to understand and would aid a judge or jury in making a decision.

1. Case-Specific Expert Witness: You will provide your initial impressions of a case after reading a short paragraph vignette describing the details of a case and the standard of care involved. In many cases, you will be asked to participate in a vetting call for the client to assess your fit for the case. If retained by the client, you will be asked to review the case, and possibly to participate in a deposition or provide trial testimony, depending on the nature of the case.
2. Subject Matter Expert: You will offer your expertise to clients through a one-hour call, where the client may ask for your opinion on a range of issues pertaining to their case. The client may request to retain you as a case-specific Expert Witness after the call if it is mutually agreeable.
3. Survey: The third way to interact with clients is by participating in a survey related to a legal claim.

By serving as an Expert Witness, you will help others become more familiar with your specialized field. Additionally, you will gain experience working with those outside of your area of expertise and by participating in a deposition or trial.

Similar to your current role at Guidepoint, you will continue to offer your expertise to a client by operating as a subject matter expert for the legal sector. Unlike your current role, however, you have the chance to be retained by a client as a case-specific Expert Witness in an independent engagement with the possibility to appear in a court of law.

This will not affect your current membership at Guidepoint and you will remain a current member of the Advisor network.

Working as an Expert Witness with Guidepoint provides additional opportunities to work with clients, choosing to participate in either a one-hour consultation per the original Guidepoint model or to be retained by a client as an Expert Witness for participation in a legal case. Additionally, by participating in our unique surveys, you will be able to test claims and reveal trends about your field.

An Expert Witness must be someone who has specialized skills and knowledge in a certain field. Expert Witnesses most commonly come from the medical field but any professional can be an Expert Witness, such as a teacher, engineer, accountant, or architect.

A practicing expert is preferred to serve as an Expert Witness, although courts accept testimony of retired individuals if their experience outweighs the fact that they are not actively practicing.

An Expert Witness should be able to both impartially and thoroughly review and report information while using factual scientific evidence to support their claims. Additionally, an Expert Witness should charge a fee that is directly correlated to the amount of time spent on the case.

If retained by the client as an Expert Witness, you can expect to spend at least a few hours reviewing the case. Additionally, you are expected to participate in a deposition and give trial testimony, if necessary, which can last up to a day, or longer. If hired as a subject matter expert, you will speak to the client on a one-hour phone call.

No. As an Expert Witness, you should offer your unbiased review of the facts of the case. You are not trying to help your client “win” but rather help them gain a better understanding of your specialized field.

Some clients are looking to speak with a subject matter expert to gain more insight into a specific topic. In such instances, you would not need to participate in a legal trial and instead will consult with them during a one-hour phone call. A client may choose to continue to use your services by asking you to offer testimony in a legal trial.

No. A client can take notes but nothing that is said in a conversation has the bearing of legal testimony. You may, however, be asked to give testimony at a trial.

A Challenge Study looks at an Expert Witness’ background to see if they have a history of giving unqualified, un-believable, or speculative advice or testimony. This is performed to discredit an Expert Witness’ opinion on a case.

No. Your information and answers will remain anonymous if you participate in a survey related to a legal claim.

A conflict check will be conducted once you and the client are paired. This is necessary in cases to ensure that there are not factors present that would negatively affect the outcome of your case such as a conflict of interest or bias.