3 ms·

Well I went to the same law school my cousin Vinny did, and I'm pretty sure you can disqualify the expert witness by asking questions like, what's the correct i

Well I went to the same law school my cousin Vinny did, and I'm pretty sure you can disqualify the expert witness by asking questions like, what's the correct ignition timing be on a 1955 Bel Air Chevrolet with a 327 cubic-inch engine and a four-barrel carburetor? You can also have your own expert witness called to directly rebut their expert witness. If expert witnesses are never paid, no one will be an expert witness. What's that world like?

pc86 4y ago
I'm surprised to see it suggested that being unable to immediately recall arcane trivia in a high pressure situation would be a disqualifying feature, but then... gestures broadly at every technical interview. Witnesses are already paid. You can be subpoenaed to present fact or character testimony, and you're required by law to show up (but you're still paid). I'm pretty sure subpoenaing random experts isn't the solution, but $1,500/hr is pretty crazy regardless of your field. Perhaps there should be a system based around licensure where you get paid a market rate rather than 10x, and doing a certain number of hours every year is considered a public service and a requirement for your license, similar to how many attorneys do pro bono work?
- ghaff 4y ago
  >$1,500/hr is pretty crazy regardless of your field. So that's $3 million/year assuming someone takes pretty much normal US vacations and holidays. And bills 8 hours/day which certainly no lawyer does unless they're working insane hours. So maybe cut that in half. (And leaving aside that you almost certainly can't book a full schedule.) Is $1.5 million/year still a lot of money? Sure. It's also not out of the realm of even non-executive compensation in places like Silicon Valley or even the medical field. And, in practice, most people doing this even those who command the highest sums, are probably doing this much less than 1,000 hours/year. Those who do earn the highest amounts are doing it, like lawyers and consultancies, by billing out associates who earn a lot less than their billable rate.
- fshbbdssbbgdd 4y ago
  My hourly is a lot less than $1,500, but I don’t think I’d take $1,500 to testify for an hour. First, I’d probably need to take off work for the whole day. I’d need to familiarize myself with the case, psych myself up for this crazy high-pressure situation, do the thing, then possibly be subject to public criticism for my role in it afterwards. It doesn’t sound worth it to me. I’m not sure what my price is, maybe $5k? This is assuming my role is to defend some patent troll or something. If I really believed in the cause, I might do it for free. Actually the technical interview is an interesting comparison. They’re also stressful and require preparation. But the monetary reward is orders of magnitude greater!
gamblor956 4y ago
Note that in the special case of My Cousin Vinny, Mona was introduced as a last-minute rebuttal expert witness, so the opposing counsel did not have prior opportunity to vet the expert., and moreover, was the defense counsel's fiance, so the judge granted the prosecution additional leeway in questioning her. However, the actual attempt to disqualify her was pretty standard, and generally something many lawyers would attempt to do with experts who are either new to the expert witnessing game or have been expert witnessing for so long that they no longer actively practice the underlying occupation that originally gave rise to their expertise. (This is actually how many expert witnesses discover their calling as a witness: they get called as an expert as a routine part of their day job, discover how easy it is, and after talking to the lawyers discover how lucrative it can be.) Despite being a comedy, My Cousin Vinny is actually one of the most accurate courtroom movies ever made.
chaps 4y ago
FWIW, I've been able to find an expert witness in my own litigation without paying a penny. Their testimony was excellent and honest. It was for an important (but niche) cause. Also, many of the expert witnesses I vetted for a different lawsuit of mine were deeply overpriced, and weren't as knowledgeable as they said they were in the specific field I needed them to be (rediscovery, but extremely low level down to file specifications). Being technical and being able to call the other side's bullshit in court docs helped get around hiring one.

pc86 4y ago

I'm surprised to see it suggested that being unable to immediately recall arcane trivia in a high pressure situation would be a disqualifying feature, but then... gestures broadly at every technical interview. Witnesses are already paid. You can be subpoenaed to present fact or character testimony, and you're required by law to show up (but you're still paid). I'm pretty sure subpoenaing random experts isn't the solution, but $1,500/hr is pretty crazy regardless of your field. Perhaps there should be a system based around licensure where you get paid a market rate rather than 10x, and doing a certain number of hours every year is considered a public service and a requirement for your license, similar to how many attorneys do pro bono work?

ghaff 4y ago
>$1,500/hr is pretty crazy regardless of your field. So that's $3 million/year assuming someone takes pretty much normal US vacations and holidays. And bills 8 hours/day which certainly no lawyer does unless they're working insane hours. So maybe cut that in half. (And leaving aside that you almost certainly can't book a full schedule.) Is $1.5 million/year still a lot of money? Sure. It's also not out of the realm of even non-executive compensation in places like Silicon Valley or even the medical field. And, in practice, most people doing this even those who command the highest sums, are probably doing this much less than 1,000 hours/year. Those who do earn the highest amounts are doing it, like lawyers and consultancies, by billing out associates who earn a lot less than their billable rate.
fshbbdssbbgdd 4y ago
My hourly is a lot less than $1,500, but I don’t think I’d take $1,500 to testify for an hour. First, I’d probably need to take off work for the whole day. I’d need to familiarize myself with the case, psych myself up for this crazy high-pressure situation, do the thing, then possibly be subject to public criticism for my role in it afterwards. It doesn’t sound worth it to me. I’m not sure what my price is, maybe $5k? This is assuming my role is to defend some patent troll or something. If I really believed in the cause, I might do it for free. Actually the technical interview is an interesting comparison. They’re also stressful and require preparation. But the monetary reward is orders of magnitude greater!

gamblor956 4y ago

Note that in the special case of My Cousin Vinny, Mona was introduced as a last-minute rebuttal expert witness, so the opposing counsel did not have prior opportunity to vet the expert., and moreover, was the defense counsel's fiance, so the judge granted the prosecution additional leeway in questioning her. However, the actual attempt to disqualify her was pretty standard, and generally something many lawyers would attempt to do with experts who are either new to the expert witnessing game or have been expert witnessing for so long that they no longer actively practice the underlying occupation that originally gave rise to their expertise. (This is actually how many expert witnesses discover their calling as a witness: they get called as an expert as a routine part of their day job, discover how easy it is, and after talking to the lawyers discover how lucrative it can be.) Despite being a comedy, My Cousin Vinny is actually one of the most accurate courtroom movies ever made.

chaps 4y ago

FWIW, I've been able to find an expert witness in my own litigation without paying a penny. Their testimony was excellent and honest. It was for an important (but niche) cause. Also, many of the expert witnesses I vetted for a different lawsuit of mine were deeply overpriced, and weren't as knowledgeable as they said they were in the specific field I needed them to be (rediscovery, but extremely low level down to file specifications). Being technical and being able to call the other side's bullshit in court docs helped get around hiring one.