Dueling Daubertians
If a lawyer hires an expert, who should write the report? A views from Blog 702:
My expert wants to write his own report.
He thinks he knows exactly what to say
To stave off every possible retort.
It’s true he has a fancy resume
And quite bestrides his world of academe,
Much held in awe by friend and foe alike.
But I do fear that if he sets the theme,
The other side will promptly move to strike.
Of course, I know they’ll do that anyway,
But we might have a chance, if I could pen
The testimony that could save the day.
Why be content with dreams that might have been?
It’s sauve qui peut, in this economy.
I pay this guy. Screw his autonomy.
In the Comments, Ted Frank replied:
I think I shall never see
An expert report penned by me.
For if he should admit on cross
That his words were viewed as dross,
Toss'd aside for those of mine,
Loudly parroted line for line,
What'd be left of his credibility?
"A mouthpiece of slim ability!
A dummy! A quack! A for-pay leech!"
So opposing counsel would impeach.
It may be hard, it may be tough,
But I cannot stress enough,
Pay a fellow who can think and write
To ably win the expert fight.
(UPDATE: Yes, there's an editing error above. I've chosen to preserve it for posterity's sake. Or something.)
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