Lawyer Involvement in Your Expert Report

How much input should your attorney-client have in crafting your expert report? Where is the boundary? Attorney Robert Ambrogi addresses this in a recent newsletter published by IMS Expert Services, "Expert Reports: Should Lawyers Keep Hands Off?" Be sure and read the comments section as well.

While you're at the IMS website, check out Rosalie's article "Marketing Your Expert Practice in a Recession" too.

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?

Practice Management Tips

Although written for lawyers, I found many realistic tips applicable to any professional service providers - in a solo practice or firm. Written by Jason Krause for the ABA Law Journal, the article is titled "Law Hacks - 101 tips, tricks and tools to make you a more productive, less stressed-out lawyer."

Krause includes both high and low-tech tips on subjects as varied as email to time management. Don't miss tip 101 - I let loose a big guffaw when I got to that one!