Thursday, December 15, 2005

The Role of Experts in Our Legal System

The following quotes are thoughtful comments on the role of experts in our legal system:

"Trial lawyers may be the peacocks of the courtroom, strutting before a judge or jury & making arguments with a sense of drama and style, but often these days it's a tweedy professor, explaining some impossibly arcane subject in plain English, who may make the difference."
- Jonathan Glater, "More & More, Expert Witnesses Make the Difference,"
NY Times, August 19, 2005

"No one will deny that the law should in some way effectively use expert knowledge wherever it will aid in settling disputes. The only question is as to how it can do so best."
- Judge Learned Hand

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I enjoyed these quotes. I think the roll of the expert in court is underestimated - both good and bad. There is no doubt that a good expert should be able to help the judge and members of a jury understand complex issues. Of course, a not-so-good expert might confuse matters even more or present a biased opinion. The information you provide for experts is extremely useful for helping them become more professional, more valuable in the courtroom.