As an attorney, at some point in your career you need the services of an expert witness. This means that you will have encountered an issue that requires specialized knowledge, especially in the field that you have not dealt with before and it needs varied qualifications. This could happen in finance and you might find that you need a financial expert witness because the subject matter can be a little bit complicated.
Given the amount of information and resources available, locating qualified, credible expert witnesses could be a daunting task. It becomes harder because you need to establish your case or refute the opposition’s case. So how do you go about finding the best expert witness you possibly can in the finance field? This is exactly what you will learn in this article.
Finding the Right Witness
You need to be creative and diligent if you need to find the best expert in the financial field. To begin with, you should find them as soon as possible so you can have optimum time to prepare for the case. You should also start early because it may take time for you to retain the right financial expert. The thing is, most of these experts, just like you, are usually really busy and they might not agree to be your witness right away. You’ll also need to gauge whether they actually do have the right qualifications or not.
Forget Internet Searches
As tempting as it may be, finding an expert on the internet is simply not something you should rely on because it is not very efficient. Internet searches are usually very time-consuming and it would be hard to locate an expert with your precise qualifications who will agree to be your expert witness.
Consult Other Attorneys
You can start by consulting attorney that have experience with expert witnesses. Ask them for recommendations and how they located their witnesses. You can start from your firm and expand as needed. If you belong to a group of lawyers that the American Bar Association or similar organizations, you can reach out to them. Colleagues are usually very responsive and they will share the experiences on how they found the expert witnesses.
Consult the Client
You should also consult your client, as they might know the experts and quacks in that field. You never know, the client might be the excellence resource you are looking for to locate the right expert. The next efficient method to find the right expert witness you can find expert authors in the field. You will find that industrial leaders are usually involved in projects and industry standards and it will be easy for you to look for them. Get in contact with the editors of their content to book appointments and see whether they will be willing to participate in your case.
Legal Database
Use a legal research database to look for similar cases that had a financial expert testifying. Chances are, you will find their names on the database, and they might be willing to testify for you as well. You can gauge whether they have the appropriate qualifications from the database and see whether they are a good fit for you. It will also be easy for you to tell whether their qualifications were challenged in the previous case.
