The Trial Practice Tips Weblog

Presenting an Expert Economist at Trial

"Tips for Making Damages Testimony Come Alive," by Paula E. Litt (pdf), was presented at the 2005 ABA Annual Meeting and contains twelve tips for presenting an expert economist at trial--

• Speak plainly;
• Establish credentials wisely;
• Tell a good story;
• Play from higher ground;
• Show pictures;
• Get the expert moving;
• Use examples;
• Keep it simple;
• Be enthusiastic;
• Don't get caught short;
• Know your expert; and
• Don't underestimate the jury.

The tips are oriented towards the plaintiff's case but many of them would apply equally to the defendant's economist.

Have Lawyers Been Too Slow to Adopt Electronic Discovery?

There's a new "Thinking E-Discovery" column up at Discovery Resources: "Why Aren't More Lawyers Doing Electronic Discovery?" by Dennis Kennedy, Tom Mighell, and me. It opens with this comment by Kennedy--

I read yet another article recently that pointed to the discovery of email in the Microsoft antitrust case as the "wake-up alarm" for lawyers on electronic discovery. Does that mean lawyers have been hitting the snooze alarm on electronic discovery for the last five or six years? Even the most enthusiastic advocates of electronic discovery techniques will tell you that electronic discovery is used in perhaps 1% or 2% of all cases. That raises our question for today: why aren't more lawyers doing electronic discovery? First of all, do we all basically agree with the 1% to 2% figure?

After you read this question, ask yourself this question: "Are you keeping up with the changing landscape of electronic discovery?" It's certainly not easy to do. But it's not impossible, either.