Manners Matter for Expert Witnesses

As an expert witness, your demeanor can be critical to how triers of fact view you, your report, and your testimony. Respect, politeness and composure can make a big difference in how the jury sees you. In "Effective Expert Preparation and Presentation," in The Advocate Magazine, May 2010, the Honorable Peter J. Polos (Ret.) writes that in addition to "Yes, sir/ma'am" and "Your Honor" that:

Experts should not let their tempers show no matter how bad the behavior of the questioning attorney. If the expert maintains his or her composure and the cross-examining attorney does not, it can only negatively impact the other side. Some of the the worst expert testimony I saw was due to argumentative or defensive testimony by the expert on cross-examination.

I will add from a marketing perpective that word gets around among attorneys. If you are known as composed and well-mannered, you are more likely to be referred and recommended to other attorneys.

(Unfortunately, this article is not available online but I highly recommend you read the entire article if possible. Judge Polos has valuable advice on several areas of expert witnessing)

U.S. Court System Not So Bad

The United States legal system has its flaws, but compared to alternatives, we are doing pretty good. You, as expert witnesses, take your share of criticism - being accused of being hired guns, having your credentials and motives questioned, being lumped in with the few bad apples out there, etc. And of course, lawyers get the most criticism (Google "lawyer jokes" and see for yourself), some of it valid (see the compilations of responses from our newsletter readers - Expert Pay Discussion and Designation Without Permission). But judges and the system overall are frequently under attack as well.

Judge John C. Lenderman wrote a well-articulated column, "In Defense of the Lawyers" in the St. Petersburg Times in which he makes a case that "Our system of justice does not tolerate frivolous lawsuits, nor does our system of justice tolerate the actions that give rise to lawyer jokes."

From your experiences with the players and the system - do you agree with Judge Lenderman?