Engineer Experts - The Attorneys Viewpoint

Abstract

It has been said that attorneys are totally and wonderfully ignorant - and thus are fully dependent upon the witnesses, the records, and the experts to provide them with the wherewithal to present their case for decision. The witnesses and records are taken as they exist - the expert, however, provides the attorneys an opportunity to sift and analyze the facts and come to a clear understanding of the case. Litigation today is often complex or at least involves a subtle nuance beyond the ken of the layman. To meet the complexities or nuances, the attorney must be able to utilize the assistance of that group of people generically known as experts, people having special skills and knowledge, gained through education and experience, which skills and knowledge are relevant to the subject matter at hand. The good attorney will attempt to analyze his case at an early stage to ascertain what, if any, expert assistance is needed. The task is to define the type of expert to be used. The