An Expert Witness & Certified Fraud Examiner,
Pat has testified in numerous trials in both the state and federal courts as an expert witness. His depth of experience that has been well-documented in the national press.
He had served as the Fraud Manager for the South Florida ZPIC Medicare fraud investigation.
- Miami FBI Public Corruption Squad
- DEA Redrum Squad
- DEA Centac 26 Squad
- ATF HIDTA Task Force
In high-stakes litigation…
expert witness testimony is often a necessary and critical part of litigation strategy. Experts can offer testimony to address unique questions or facts that are central to liability issues. They are also almost universally used when it comes to quantifying damages. Because expert witness testimony can be such an important factor, there can be much at stake for litigators in the process of finding and selecting an expert. Clients, too, have recognized the importance of choosing the expert witness best suited for the case, and the expert selection process has increasingly become a joint enterprise between outside litigators and their in-house counterparts. Engage Experts Early Once the decision is made to use an expert, counsel must next consider when to engage the expert. With few exceptions, it should be done as early as possible for the following reasons:
- It increases the chance that your client will be able to retain the expert best suited for the case and that your chosen expert will not be prevented from representing your side because of a conflict of interest.
- Expert advice can be critical in making the most of fact discovery, as experts can be invaluable in framing discovery requests, identifying fruitful issues to investigate in depositions, and even identifying the right personnel to depose.
- It allows counsel to use the expert (sometimes in the consulting role) to add input on often-valuable early-stage questions, such as whether or not the value of the case is enough to make it worth litigating, potential settlement value, identification of key technical, economic, or financial concepts or issues, and whether the expert’s findings and opinions have implications for other parts of counsel’s legal strategy.
- Early participation helps the expert to develop the most effective opinion, as he or she will benefit from sufficient time to do appropriate research as well as the ability to ensure that the data and information central to the expert’s opinion can be collected and made available for analysis.
Consider Past Testifying Experience
Request a list of all parties, cases, and issues on which your expert candidate has testified to ensure there are no potential issues with regard to the present case. Much of this information should be immediately available, as federal rules require experts to identify all cases in which they have testified in the preceding four years. Reviewing any previously filed expert reports, if available, as well as deposition transcripts and trial testimony, is important, and many resources—such as PACER, or Bloomberg Law databases—can provide at least some of that information. Here, counsel should weigh the results of the expert’s previous cases, any exclusions of the expert’s testimony, and any credibility-damaging aspect of his or her experience (such as only representing one party).A Primer on When to Use Expert Witnesses and How to Find Them From Bloomberg Law® - January 7, 2013