97 LAWYER MONTHLY EXPERT WITNESS AWARDS 2025 For example, design regulators moved towards more open and transparent complaint review processes and publish records of hearing issues and rulings raising awareness about common litigation issues. Technical trade association increasingly solicit feedback from industry subject matter experts as they prepare code and standard updates. International testing agencies offer courses that improve awareness about common dispute issues. Litigation frequency is also impacted by economic stability that can be balanced by good work opportunities for both external experts and local forces. Expert witnesses must navigate complex legal and technical issues while maintaining impartiality. What do you see as the key attributes of an effective expert witness? Most importantly, I believe that an effective expert witness must have an extensive background of broad-ranging experiences that allows for the quick review and filtering of large amounts of information so that only the core issues can be identified while avoiding distraction by redundant and irrelevant data. An effective expert witness must further be free from any potential conflicts of interest and be brutally honest in the formulation of their opinions. They should be able to anticipate potential opposing positions that may attempt to discredit their findings. They should be capable to go beyond simply answering legal counsel inquiries and propose methods of discovery and presentation that help strengthen dispute resolution and adjudication strategies. An effective expert witness must be prepared to fully explain the rationale for their opinions in the simplest terms possible, author reports using concise narratives and support their findings by applicable references. A good expert witness should not be deterred by conducting extensive research into topics most relevant to the case. All potential benefits and pitfalls of each opinion should be anticipated in preparation for testimony. Your firm is expanding its reach across Canada and the USA. What are the biggest barriers to this growth and your plans to address them? Our firm has actually observed a high degree of disputes consistency across jurisdictions as viewed from a conceptual perspective. Most differences are due terminology and regional application variations. Our investigation methods focus on basic scientific and regulatory principles easily refined to address specific regional methods. Maintaining a multi-jurisdiction presence strengthens our ability to focus on primary dispute causes and lessons learned help settle disputes in other locations. We take special care when connecting with potential clients in new jurisdictions to frame our discussions on common experiences while paying close attention to reference region terms and standards. For professionals looking to transition into expert witness work, what are the most important lessons you’ve learned about balancing technical expertise with legal scrutiny? What advice can you provide to other consultants that may be considering a transition into expert witness work? My main advice is that expert witness work requires a background and capacity to simultaneously analyze past building project events from both big picture and extremely analytical perspectives. Not everyone has the experience or patience to be engaged in this manner. The biggest pitfalls in this type of business are the formulation of opinions that are unpopular with industry colleagues and may limit future consulting opportunities. By maintaining a professional, confidential, straightforward, respectful, uneditorialized and non-judgemental demeanour, expert witnesses can preserve credibility in future commissions. Retainer opportunities should be carefully assessed and declined when experts are compelled to compromise their integrity or adopt opinions not wholeheartedly believed. Our expert witness work has been especially satisfying when we help identify dispute causes our clients were unable to recognize on their own and when we are able to enhance their legal positions. It is satisfying to see disputing parties effectively settle their disputes based on analysis and opinions. Influencing just and fair settlements for parties experiencing an impasse through our unbiased understanding and analysis is one of the most rewarding and satisfying aspects of our consulting practice.
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