Richards wrote:
> Amen.
>
> I my case, I was the lawyer... and the expert never won! (But then it
> was not between me or him... I was working for a client, and ...
> oddly enough... I THOUGHT we were there to find the TRUTH... not
> just prove a case.)
Let me add an Amen to your Amen. I agree that -truth- is the name of the
game -- and fortunately, for the cases I was involved with we truly were
in the right; the Plaintiff just figured the telco had deep pockets.
After testifying in a case before the state Public Service Commission
(that we won, by the way), the Assistant Attorney General complimented
me. I said it was easy when you had the law on your side -- the Laws of
Physics! :-)
> Many lawyers make the HUGE MISTAKE of thinking it is about THEM for
> some reason... and I have many times witnessed where the expert seems
> to be on trial, and the lawyer is out to prove his limited
> knowledge.
Sounds familiar! Although I sometimes wondered how much of their bluster
was just to razzle-dazzle their client and make him think he was getting
his money's worth.
> But a little knowledge is a very dangerous thing and juries much
> prefer humility and cooperation and courtesy. Te fact is, I am just
> there to tell a story. And it is not MY story, either.
>
> So I applaud you guys because I have been there and watched what you
> are referring to - and I won my cases because we were on the same
> page as the experts. Just trying to tell a story, and let the jury
> decide what really happened, and who was at fault. An expert is
> only someone who has such specialized knowledge sufficient to allow
> him to render an opinion - and not be bound to just telling the
> facts. Otherwise, as the one feller said, it is "Just the facts,
> ma'am" for everyone.
>
> So, yes, I have watched too many sparring matches between lawyer and
> witness, which does the client a huge mis-service, actually, as it
> appears to the jury like a desperate attempt to tell fiction.
Well, what do you do when you see a juror sleeping? Ran into that once
and it greatly concerned me...although we won that one too.
>
> ====================== Richards - K8JHR ================
>
> On 2/19/2010 7:17 AM, Carter wrote:
>
>
> >> The real fun came from the cases where some lawyer thought he
> >> could show me up on cross-examination. Not once did the lawyer
> >> win.
> > Been there, done that!
> >
> > I was the forensic expert for a large telcom and spent my share of
> > time in court...and no, not once did the opposing lawyer win. They
> > all mostly seem to have forgotten the lawyer's Golden Rule of never
> > asking a question to which they don't know the answer. :-)
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