How to Succeed as an Expert Witness by Looking at Each Case from the Other Expert’s Perspective

If you take cases for both plaintiffs and defense, then you must understand both perspectives so you can undertake your part well for either side. It will help, as well, if you can anticipate what the other side’s expert is likely to do. You know he or she is going to look closely at your report, so you have to be doubly careful about what you write. Think about the basis for each opinion you will express.
Regardless of whether you are acting as an expert witness for the plaintiff or for the defense, your goal is to assess whether each of the steps taken by the other side’s expert made sense. Was it proper, necessary, and complete enough to lead to the stated opinion? Assess whether any portion of the expert’s logic suffered from mistaken assumption or oversight. If so, your attorney can then legitimately use your assessments to undermine the credibility of the expert or the opinion.
More than one possibility often exists. A common error made by people in general is to take the easy way out and say: “that was the only way possible.” Bridge players may say there was no other way to play the cards. Backgammon players may say there was no other way to play the dice. Expert witnesses may say that their opinion is the only sensible one. Don’t assume that the way taken is the only way; look for other possibilities, and explore them.
If you are the plaintiff’s expert, Think About all the possibilities. Prepare to explain why you may have chosen one or only a subset of the possibilities as the basis for your opinion.
If you are the defendant’s expert, list other possibilities that the plaintiff’s expert should have considered, and why.
Pointing out other possibilities may be enough to generate reasonable doubt or to undermine the credibility of the other side’s expert.

Judd Robbins has been an internationally recognized expert witness since 1986 in the US and in the UK. In 2010, his book “Expert Witness Training” was published by Presentation Dynamics. Robbins has advanced degrees from UC Berkeley and the University of Michigan, has been an Information Systems manager and an Education Systems manager, and consults in both computer and legal issues. Learn more about Mr. Robbins and his Expert Witness Training materials at www.juddrobbins.com

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Pension plans of private sector witness infrastructural breakdown

ACA, Association of Consulting Actuaries, has tabled its review and revealed that about 90 per cent private sector pension plans have been closed to new competitors. The agency has suggested taking a strong step to strengthen the workstation pension plans. On the other side, the government has replied that the automatic registration would be making the millions of Englishmen save their earnest money and the new enrollment system is ready to begin by the end month of the year. But the chairman of the agency ACA has stated that the modified enrollment system should broaden the private pension plans also. There are twenty three million workforces in the private sector and about 6 million employed in government sector. As the ACA has stated that about 5.5 million people in government department have availed the pension plans and less than two million have gone through the scheme.

ACA, very trusted adviser of pension plans in UK, has gone through a survey and found that more than 450 employees are investing in 560 pension plans. It also found that about 40 per cent of total workforces are closed to further accrual. The agency has brought very clear data before us stating the whole estimation of the opportunity closed for new joiners and also for the existing employees. In December, a new survey came in light and we can see that about 23 per cent of pension plans have been closed for more input by present employees and 80 per cent for new comers.

Stuart from ACA has said that the growing number of closings was not because the Englishmen are living longer, but other aspects that have turned the plans very costly to run. In order to get instant finance visit instant personal loans and get funds quickly.

Automatic enrollment –

The ACA stated that more than 25 per cent of total workforces had planned for the cost of workstation pension auto-registration, which is ready to take place by the month of October, when about 5th of staffs were about to cut their pension expenditure. It has been told that a strong step must be brought in action to encourage both the employers and staffs to increase pension savings. A senior official from DWP, Department for Work and Pension has said that the modified face of enrolment system is the most essential steps acted by any government to assist the employee to save their money in pension plans.

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Running Tests, Following Protocols, and Following Methodologies as an Expert Witness

Each specialty field has its own requirements for possible testing, its own protocols, and its own procedures. A key part of your contribution is to know your field well enough to design each test and then run or witness them. If professionals in your field by and large rely on third parties to run tests, such as independent laboratories, specify that fact and tell the labs explicitly which tests to run, and how to run them. The legal burden is that the tests are run under conditions substantially the same as existed at the time of the event in question.
If your tests are part of standard protocols or methodologies in your discipline, follow procedures similar to those described in peer-reviewed publications. In other word run tests according to commonly accepted guidelines. If your tests require multiple passes to secure a series of results or data values, run them enough times to justify the results quantitatively.
Your expert opinions will rely on the results you secure from tests. The results of your tests are only as valid as the tests. Remember, you may be asked why you ran specific tests, why you used or specified individual parameters, and why other tests were not run. You should be able to describe the logic and methodology that led you to the particular tests, and why the results led to your opinions. If your tests show inconsistencies, you must be able to explain them. If some tests in your industry have known error fees, secure documentation in advance about them and make sure to correlate observed error fees during your tests with the known industry rates.
If the case focuses on equipment that failed, run tests to explain the cause of the failure, and define your tests to show whether the problems lay in original design, follow-on manufacturing, or even usage by company personnel or consumers. And make sure any equipment used to test other equipment or evidence has undergone regular maintenance and / or calibration if required.  secure detailed documentation of the service and keep this information in your own file folder as well. If an opposing attorney determines that you or your laboratory did not maintain or properly calibrate testing equipment, then the judge may dismiss the results. If the equipment does not require calibration, perhaps because results are relative and not absolute, you should know that so that you can testify to it.
In the computer field, software and operating systems change regularly. In the construction field, building codes change frequently. In aviation, both planes and avionics change from time to time. Maintaining records of these developments will be useful; some legal matters you face will involve the state of your discipline years earlier. Legal cases sometimes involve equipment that has been operating for many years at company facilities.
Having your own reference materials will permit you to rapidly find data to help with your analyses. This could range from printed copies of articles to copies of journals and magazines to computer files.
At the same time, you should know about the latest published developments in your field. Failing to use the current tools of your trade, or software in your specialty, or technology in your science, may be enough to exclude your opinions from court. To be the best expert witness possible, you must keep your experience current.
Many specialty fields have their own journals or magazines; stay familiar with published developments in your field to ensure that you can select and use the most recent techniques for research and analysis. Using search engines on the web is convenient to Discover the latest research. Current information often appears on websites for companies doing the research before it appears in professional journals.

Judd Robbins has been an internationally recognized expert witness since 1986 in the US and in the UK. In 2010, his book “Expert Witness Training” was published by Presentation Dynamics. Robbins has advanced degrees from UC Berkeley and the University of Michigan, has been an Information Systems manager and an Education Systems manager, and consults in both computer and legal issues. Learn more about Mr. Robbins and his Expert Witness Training materials at www.juddrobbins.com

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Ways to Help Convince Attorneys That You Can Help Them as an Expert Witness

The introductory phone call is your biggest opportunity to influence an attorney’s decision to employ you. Show him that you already know litigation support and that you know your specialty. You can begin by suggesting how you would approach a case he has. Be proactive with your experience and experience.
Once you have a little experience under your belt, you can offer free technical advice with regard to a case, or even share things that other attorneys have done in similar cases. You are not giving advice to a lawyer on the law, but you are sharing your experiences in other cases that are similar. If you have more background in a particular kind of case than the attorney has then your qualifications may help him to identify areas of need. You could suggest the steps you might take to reach an opinion in the case. This approach uses your specialty experience as a selling tool in a low-key way.
Do your credentials and background support your claim to being an expert, and does your CV instantly convey that claim? Do you sound great when you speak, and do you speak well and clearly? Shyness does not become an expert witness. wonderful eye contact is a valued skill.
Can you dress well? Think of your initial meeting with an attorney as a job interview.  Wear business clothing. If you see that the atmosphere in the office is more casual, then you might dress down a bit for future meetings but never dress more casually than those you will be working with. You want to impress attorneys with your professionalism, and your appearance contributes to that. When you attend a deposition or a trial, you should take the same approach to appearance as well. You want everyone to see you as both serious and professional in appearance as well as in demeanor.
Sloppiness in your appearance suggests carelessness in your work.
You should consider one more thing. Do not overdress by wearing flashy clothes or flashy jewelry. One lawyer I worked for pointed out to me that the opposing expert had on a $ 10,000 Rolex watch during a deposition. He said jurors don’t want it rubbed in their noses exactly how much money experts make. The attorney planned to make a point of the watch with the jurors if given the opportunity.

Judd Robbins has been an internationally recognized expert witness since 1986 in the US and in the UK. In 2010, his book “Expert Witness Training” was published by Presentation Dynamics. Robbins has advanced degrees from UC Berkeley and the University of Michigan, has been an Information Systems manager and an Education Systems manager, and consults in both computer and legal issues. Learn more about Mr. Robbins and his Expert Witness Training materials at www.juddrobbins.com

Testifying as an expert witness with audio and video evidence is the most important activity to an audio forensic expert. When testifying we review your case…
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Using Intermediaries for reliable Brokerage and business as an Expert Witness

Expert brokerages, called Intermediaries, will list you and your credentials in their own private database or registry, and then promote your availability to law firms.
You sign a contract, agreeing to work for a fixed rate on an hourly basis. When they find you a job, they will charge the law firm that engages you a rate that is higher than your standard consulting rate. They keep the distinction.
Generally, Intermediaries charge you nothing up front, pay their own promotional and marketing costs, and act as your agent in obtaining litigation support jobs for you.
If you are still a relatively new expert witness, you can expect to receive your current consulting rate from these intermediaries. They will add $ 50-$ 150 per hour to your rate and charge that higher figure to the hiring law firm. The extra hourly rate beyond your normal consulting rate determines how much money they earn in total. This can add up dramatically, especially in cases that continue for months and years, with every single one of your hours contributing to their bottom line.
When they find a job for you, the great news for you is that you would otherwise never have heard of the job without them. The good news for them is that once they find you this job, they have to do little else other than collect the money from the law firm every month and pay you. They risk nothing other than their upfront time and energy to find you the law cases to work on.
Once you start receiving cases from these organizations, you will realize that attorneys are willing to pay these higher rates for your services. This signifies that you probably can raise your own consulting rates. However, as you raise your consulting fees, these intermediaries must raise their fees.
Intermediaries have to meet business criteria for profit margins. Consequently, the final rate they charge law firms may exceed what the firms are willing to pay, and you may then lose possible new cases. To avoid that, you may have to revise downward your agreed-upon consulting rates when you use an intermediary organization. On the surface this sounds not ideal, but you obtain extra business and are earning more money than you were. Not a problem.

Judd Robbins has been an internationally recognized expert witness since 1986 in the US and in the UK. In 2010, his book “Expert Witness Training” was published by Presentation Dynamics. Robbins has advanced degrees from UC Berkeley and the University of Michigan, has been an Information Systems manager and an Education Systems manager, and consults in both computer and legal issues. Learn more about Mr. Robbins and his Expert Witness Training materials at www.juddrobbins.com

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How to Enhance Your Visibility on the Web and Your Credentials as an Expert Witness

If your website appears on the initial page of the Google or Yahoo search engine results, then you may not need any extra visibility. If you are not yet as busy as you’d like, here are some alternative techniques that you can use. Lawyers will look in several places to find experts.
*  universities where you teach or do research
*  membership rolls of professional or technical societies
*  large companies that specialize in your specialty
*  other Lawyers with whom you have worked
*  smaller but highly reputed consulting firms
If any of these locations maintain their own copies of your credentials or CV, make note of each location and keep your data current in their copy.  Tell everyone you know about your interest in expert witness opportunities.
Apart from my own website, internet registries and intermediary organizations are two of my favorite techniques for getting expert witness jobs:
1.  Your main visibility on the web for expert witness jobs is your own website. This is essential for experts at any qualifications level. It is inexpensive and can readily help experienced experts to maintain a busy schedule.
2.  Internet Registries can help build and maintain a work level for professionals with limited to moderate background. The cost is nominal and registries provide a valuable adjunct to your website, especially if your own website has no significant search engine visibility.
3.  Intermediary organizations are an excellent choice for beginning professionals with no contacts in the legal arena. These companies offer the easiest way to establish a new expert witness presence with attorneys. They can also maintain a long term job flow with no promotional efforts required on your part.
Let’s talk about those Internet registries. Although I list all of the registries that I’ve used over the years in my book, a simple Internet search should readily reveal the majority of them. Some specialty companies maintain databases, occasionally called registries, of experts in a variety of disciplines, like engineering, computers, medicine, and hundreds of other subjects. Registries charge you a fee to provide added visibility for your credentials on the Internet; this is a more focused search site than a standard Internet search engine.
Accessing one of the website registries produces a list of specialized professionals in seconds, saving attorneys time and money. While some attorneys still do global searches on Google, many have acquired that searching registries is much more productive. Having your name and credentials in one of the registries listed below will enable attorneys to find you easily.
The registries provide simple displays of your name and contact data, along with a textual listing of your principal specialties and credentials. The registries also advertise in different ways to encourage attorneys to look for expert witnesses in their registry database. The primary downside to a registry with many professionals is that the attorneys may find you and your competitors during the same search.

Judd Robbins has been an internationally recognized expert witness since 1986 in the US and in the UK. In 2010, his book “Expert Witness Training” was published by Presentation Dynamics. Robbins has advanced degrees from UC Berkeley and the University of Michigan, has been an Information Systems manager and an Education Systems manager, and consults in both computer and legal issues. Learn more about Mr. Robbins and his Expert Witness Training materials at www.juddrobbins.com

Expert Witness Corner: The Importance of Computer Forensics in Criminal Law

In many instances old, or conventional crime is perpetrated using new approaches that are reliant on technology. Postal fraud, for instance, has evolved to employ electronic communication channels, giving rise to waves of emails seeking to defraud recipients with promises of money and fictitious prizes (commonly known as ‘419 scams’ as many of such notes tend to originate from the African continent and 419 is their penal code for wire fraud).

Studies into the cost of cyber-crime, commissioned independently by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reveal alarming trends in the abuse and misuse of technology. The average cost per security incident has risen to over £160,000 and nearly one in four businesses in the UK have suffered a serious hacker attack or virus outbreak. The impact of an information security breach can be so devastating to business operations that one in ten never actually recover and the shutters close permanently. To counter this growing threat, security and law enforcement agencies have adopted fresh approaches for dealing with high technology crime.

Forensic Computing is a relatively young science when compared to contact forensics such as fingerprint recognition which have roots that can be traced back to Edmond Locard, who in the early 1900s famously postulated the theory of evidence being left as ‘mutual exchanges of contact’. Whilst various descriptions exist in relation to this practice, the international survey undertaken by Hannen has been taken as the de-facto definition: ‘Processes or procedures involving monitoring, collection, analysis… as part of ‘a priori’ or ‘postmortem’ investigations of computer misuse’. It is important to appreciate that this definition takes a wider view than the conventional reactive description, where forensics was regarded purely as an incident response function. Hannen considers digital forensics as also taking a pro-active role in security, where it can be combined with intelligence and operational planning.

As a serious field of research, forensic computing studies only started to take real form in the early 1990s when, faced with ever increasing numbers of computers being seized at crime scenes and the potential for crucial evidence to be stored on a PC, various government agencies came together to host the International Conference on Computer Evidence (ICCE). Here many of the challenges facing law enforcement communities were aired and agreements forged to cooperate towards finding effective solutions.

Two years later, in 1995, the International Organisation for Computer Evidence (IOCE) was formed, and a further two years later the member states that comprise the G8 subscribed to the mission of IOCE, pledging support for the organisation. This was the catalyst required to stimulate research and development, and since then great advances have been made in all spheres of digital evidence management. When working on a matter where the case will rise or fall on the strength of digital evidence, for example where an allegation of possession of indecent images has been made, it is important to commission an independent forensic examination of all evidence and digital materials. This places the evidence into the wider context of the offence and enables barristers to make directions to the court based on a fuller appreciation of matter.

Assuming material has been seized by the authorities, the state will usually conduct their own forensic assessments (typically undertaken by the regional police hi-tech crime unit), the results of which will be provided to legal representations. The mechanics of this process involve the ‘imaging’ of the ‘target media’ – the process of making a forensically sound duplication of digital materials of interest (e.g. the computer hard drive). During this duplication process a ‘write-blocking’ device will be employed to ensure the target media is not affected or corrupted in any capacity whilst its content is read and mirrored. The actual forensic analysis is then made upon the duplicated material, with the original placed into secure storage and maintained in the state in which it was seized. The forensic analyst will then peruse the imaged copy to identify materials of potential evidence value, extracting copies as necessary to form the basis of the expert report.

Looking at this from a defence perspective, a number of questions should be posed in relation to the digital evidence (based on the Daubert threshold test that evaluates the competency of evidence in the United States):

• whether the theories and techniques employed by the scientific expert have been tested;

• whether they have been subjected to peer review and publication; • whether the techniques employed by the expert have a known error rate;

• whether they are subject to standards governing their application; and

• whether the theories and techniques employed by the expert enjoy widespread acceptance.

Putting abuses of technology on a statutory footing, Britain has a suite of legislation that can be invoked, from the Computer Misuse Act 1990 to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

Today digital forensics is an accepted science, and evidence duly secured in relation to best practices (in the UK these guidelines are outlined by the Association of Chief Police Officers) can be served in a court of law. Digital forensics are providing breakthroughs in all manner of high profile cases around the world, helping security and law enforcement agencies to catch offenders and secure convictions.

In the US, for example, the notorious BTK serial killer that had a reign of terror lasting over twenty five years in the Wichita areas, was ultimately tracked down after he sent a disk to a local radio station gloating at the police’s inability to catch him. Unique digital footprints embedded within the files were extracted by forensic specialists, and like a lone fingerprint, investigators now had a powerful lead – all they needed was to match the file to the computer that had created it (much like having a fingerprint but not a suspect’s hand to match it with). Wichita Police then conducted a house to house search, taking file samples from every computer encountered. Back in the laboratory, the file footprints were compared to the sample disk posted by the BTK killer, eventually finding a match. This tied the floppy disk to Dennis Radar’s PC, a virtual smoking gun as far the prosecution were concerned. This digital evidence became a pivotal element of the State’s case and ultimately helped secure a conviction.

In the UK the 2002 murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, Cambridgeshire, also saw digital forensics play a crucial, but largely unknown, role in the investigation. Technical analysts examined one of the girl’s mobile phone to identify where it was located when it had been turned off. Information on the nearest network communication tower tends to be stored in a phone’s memory and when the signal coverage of that tower is plotted, it is possible to identify the rough area (typically a few square kilometres) in which the phone was located when it was switched off. Having extracted this information from the handset, authorities had a rough idea of where to base their search; which ultimately led to the recovery of the two girl’s bodies.

Speaking in an interview several years after his pioneering research on the Manhattan Project where atomic reaction theory was developed, scientific visionary Oppenheimer explained that ‘the scientist is free to ask any question, to doubt any assertion, to seek for any evidence’. This thinking holds especially true when applied to the discipline of forensic computing in a legal context. Here experts may be instructed by either the prosecution or the defence, however, in either instance, they have a higher duty to the court. They are instructed as experts, but experts for the truth. It is important therefore to ensure that the experts instructed are duly qualified, experienced and independent.

Commenting on the nature of digital evidence, John Brown, Partner at Hogan Brown Solicitors, explained how the fragile nature of digital evidence can pose serious challenges to the investigator: ‘digital material is extremely volatile – perhaps more delicate than its physical counterparts. It can be copied, amended, and transferred without almost any trace – only experienced and qualified specialists should be employed to work in a digital forensic environment if the subsequent findings are to withstand the scrutiny of a court of law’. When working on a matter where the case will rise or fall on the strength of the digital evidence, perhaps where an allegation of possession of indecent images has been made, it is important to commission an independent forensic examination of all evidence and digital materials. It is also important that lawyers, when they try to find an expert witness choose someone with the necessary skills who is not only able to prepare an objective, unbiased report but also deliver oral testimony if required.

Forensic computing and the securing of digital evidence is a powerful tool in today’s fight against increasingly technically-savvy criminals. It is a discipline that continues to evolve and should remain high on the radar for both legal practitioners and law enforcement authorities.

Ross Patel is a forensic computer consultant with Afentis Forensics. You can view the company profile and find an expert witness at X-Pro UK, the innovative expert witness directory.

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Expert Witness Corner: Forensic Analysis of Mobile Telephones – A Brief Guide

Mobile Telephone Handsets – The Essentials:

Modern communication devices of this form comprise of three distinct components: a finger-nail sized chip known as the ‘Subscriber Identity Module’ (SIM) that is responsible for service with the telecom network provider, the handset, which provides the user interface and memory capacity to store information, and removable memory modules that facilitate simple exchange of information and markedly improve the data storage capacity of the phone.

Many specialists argue that the mobile phone has become the new fingerprint – a case in point being Ian Huntley’s conviction for the Soham murders  in the U.K which was based partly on crucial mobile phone evidence.

Digital Evidence:

Mobile phones employ what is known as ‘flash memory’ to store data and settings. Unlike the ‘Random Access Memory’ (RAM), which is found within computers, flash memory can continue to store information even in the absence of a power source.

As mobile communication devices continue to evolve, with features like word processing and photo imaging applications becoming commonplace, the memory storage areas have become increasingly important silos of digital evidence.

The following materials can be recovered from the handset and can greatly assist in case preparations:

• Logged Incoming & Last Dialled numbers
• Text & Multimedia messages
• System Settings (including date/time/volume)
• Stored audio/visual materials
• Saved computer and data files
• Calendar and Alarm notifications
• Internet settings and websites accessed.

Common Questions:

Q: Where does evidence reside – on the handset or on the SIM?

A: Materials of evidentiary value are stored on both the SIM4 and within the handset memory. Therefore it is recommended that comprehensive evaluations of both are undertaken. The SIM will tend to contain valuable user-specific information such as network identity, whilst the handset will contain large amounts of information relating to calls made/received, texts sent/received, images/video clips created etc.

Q: Can obscene images/material be stored on a handset?

A:The prevalence of high resolution cameras on most mobile telephones has led to an increase in the number of offences being committed in relation to creation, or attempted creation, of obscene images. Assuming a standard handset with 32MB of memory, close to 500 still images could be taken and stored.

Q: Data deleted six months ago – can it be recovered?

A: Dependent upon a number of factors, such as whether the information has since been over-written, it is possible to retrieve even the oldest materials committed to the phone – including material that were never saved by the user. In most cases a surprising amount of information can be retrieved, often going back several years.

Q: Does locking the handset keep information private?

A: Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) and pass codes can be used to restrict access to the handset, but forensic assessments typically bypass such controls by interrogating the memory module directly5. At this time encrypted file-systems and data storage areas are not available in standard retail handsets.

Q: What else can the handset tell us?

A: Aside from digital evidence the presence of DNA traces on the keypad, earpiece and mouthpiece can tie a user to device. Similarly, ‘Call Data Records’ (CDRs)6 can be retrieved from the network provider, providing near post-code location information as to where and when the device was used.

Q: How do you identify the International Mobile Equipment Identity?

A: The IMEI is a 15 digit Code used to identify the phone to the network. Whilst this code can be retrieved during a forensic examination, a quick way to force the handset to display onscreen the code is to enter *#06# on the keypad7. Caution: this approach to identifying the IMEI may affect valuable evidence in storage.

Q: OK, I’ve got the basics, but where can I find the right expert to help my case?

A: There are a number of expert witness directories available, particularly online, where you can find an expert witness with the relevant experience to help you. If you can find someone recommended by a fellow professional who has used the expert before, so much the better.

Did you know?

New mobile telephones have as much as 32 megabytes of internal memory – enough to comfortably store a document with over 2,000 pages of text!

Telephone handsets will typically store user defined words that are not in a normal dictionary. Names of individuals and places are therefore often stored in this archive – a potentially valuable source of intelligence for investigators.

Ross Patel is a forensic computer consultant with Afentis Forensics. You can view the company profile and find an expert witness at X-Pro UK, the innovative expert witness directory.