A Visual Refresher Course on Expert Testimony

This is the book you will actually use. Expert testimony puzzles even seasoned attorneys and experienced judges. This Visual Refresher Course simplifies understanding with a practical approach to mapping the expert's argument and assessing opinions against the controlling legal principles. Get straight into the elements and analysis of expert testimony, from a practical perspective. Stop suffering through 400-page tomes searching for the core principles you need now. The work's been done for you, so no need to waste your time. A Visual Refresher Course on Expert Testimony provides the quick overview you need to think clearly about expert witnesses. While intended for young lawyers and law students, everyone can discover the benefits of this high-yield reference resource. This Visual Refresher Course shows: -How experts master their fields and specialized knowledge-How experts argue-How the legal principles frame expert testimony-How to map an expert's opinion into a diagram-How to analyze that opinion-How to think critically about the comparison and weighing of competing expert opinions-How to finds strengths and weaknesses, as well as simple frameworks for persuasive presentations on direct examination and cross examinationThis step-by-step, Visual Refresher Course covers: the path to mastering specialized knowledge, shortcuts and biases; breaking down and mapping the expert's argument; Federal Rules of Evidence 702 and 703, the legal principles for expert opinions and their eight levels of continua; qualifications; facts, data and assumptions; principles, methods and their application; the opinion and its battle for the best explanation; and more.Real-world examples are drawn: My Cousin Vinny (1992); the polygraph in Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013 (D.C. Cir. 1923); the studies in Daubert v Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc, 509 U.S. 579 (1993); the epidemiological studies in General Electric Co. v. Joiner, 522 U.S. 136 (1997); the tire analysis in Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137 (1999); the blood samples in People v. O.J. Simpson; medical decision-making, mental health diagnosis, and child custody evaluations; DNA identification and the fallibility of witness identification; standardized field sobriety, abusive head trauma [shaken baby syndrome], syndrome evidence [battered women, sexually abused child], and gang-related crime; real estate appraisals; business valuation, lost personal income, and lost business profits; present value of defined benefit pension interest; and professional and legal malpractice.