Chapter 18
Organizing Evidence and Serving as an Expert Witness
In This Chapter
Distinguishing an expert from a fact witness
Realizing what an expert witness does
Preparing your CV
Figuring out how to communicate with the jury
Using visual communications to persuade the jury
Expert testimony is used in a lot of litigation these days. When you’re hired to serve as an expert witness, you must understand your primary target audience: the jury. Jurors take their work seriously, but are placed in the difficult position of needing to evaluate complex technical matters that they may know nothing about. They generally cannot ask questions during the trial and are not permitted to take notes, do any research on their own, or discuss matters with each other until they deliberate the final outcome of the case.
The most important function of your expert testimony is to persuade the jury. Jurors are more likely to be persuaded when they trust you. To be persuasive, you have to establish and maintain ...
