DJC Law
Preparing for and Deposing the Adverse Medical Expert
This paper will focus on the question of how to best conduct the deposition of the opponent’s retained medical expert. As we all know, there is no one way to cross-examine an opponent’s expert. There is no single formula that, whenever employed, consistently causes adverse experts to buckle and admit they are frauds. Therefore, our goal in this paper is simply to present a number of ideas that have proven successful with some of the experts some of the time.
What does this paper cover?
It is our intent that this paper be a brief, very informal, discussion of some of the strategies plaintiff’s lawyers can use to depose defense medical expert witnesses. It is not meant to be a comprehensive discussion of Robinson, Texas Rule of Evidence 702, or Texas Rules of Civil Procedure 194 and 195. Rather, this paper is meant to be a general overview of some strategies and techniques that have worked well in the past for our firm’s lawyers.
The majority of the discussion is written from the perspective of the plaintiff’s lawyer deposing the defense medical expert witness. Most of the concepts and issues addressed, however, are also applicable to the defense’s examination of the plaintiff’s medical experts.
What’s included?
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. SCOPE
II. NO-LEGALESE DISCLAIMER
III. INTRODUCTION
IV. THE LAW
V. GOALS
VI. PREPARATION
VII. WHAT QUESTIONS TO ASK
VIII. DELIVERY
IX. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX A PREPARATION OUTLINE
APPENDIX B SAMPLE DEPOSITION NOTICE WITH SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM
APPENDIX C DEPOSITION OUTLINE[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column centered_text="true" column_padding="no-extra-padding" column_padding_position="all" background_color_opacity="1" background_hover_color_opacity="1" column_shadow="none" width="1/3" tablet_text_alignment="default" phone_text_alignment="default" column_border_width="none" column_border_style="solid"][image_with_animation image_url="2476" alignment="center" animation="Fade In" box_shadow="none" max_width="100%"][nectar_btn size="large" open_new_tab="true" button_style="regular" button_color_2="Accent-Color" icon_family="none" url="https://teamjustice.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Deposing-the-Adverse-Medical-Expert.pdf" text="Download"][/vc_column][/vc_row]
About the author
Dan Christensen has been practicing law since 1994. He started his career working in military courts, notorious for their strict adherence to rules and procedures. He has been involved in almost 200 trials during his career in numerous federal and state courts against the largest defendants, including the U.S. Government.