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How to Assist An Expert Witness Practice: The Support Staff Program, August 21-22, 2012

Falmouth, MA

Sea Crest Beach Hotel, Falmouth, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Executive Summary: SEAK is proud to present this new training program specifically designed for an expert witness’s support staff. An expert witness’s support staff is an integral and critical member of the expert witness’s team. Indeed, the success of any expert witness practice is dependent in large part as to how much assistance that expert receives from his/her support staff and the quality of this assistance. How to Assist An Expert Witness Practice: The Support Staff Program will teach support personnel how to help make their practices more valuable and successful. How to Assist An Expert Witness Practice: The Support Staff Program is a small group training session taught in an interactive fashion featuring numerous case studies and exercises. Attendees will return to the office with concrete protocols, checklists, and action steps to help their expert witnesses succeed.

What You Will Learn:
• How to assume more responsibility and reduce your experts’ non-billable time.
• Evidence-based best practices to expand, grow and develop your experts’ practice.
• How to proof, quality control, and improve the persuasiveness of your expert’s reports.
• The rules regarding discovery as they apply to expert witnesses and how to optimize your experts’ document creation and retention policies.
• How to maximize repeat and word of mouth business based upon evidence based best practices of how to satisfy attorney clients.
• The key clauses that should be in your expert’s retainer agreement.
• How to make sure your expert gets paid in full and on time.
• Risk management and how to keep your expert out of trouble.
• Best practices in drafting and maintaining web sites and online listings.
• How to bullet proof and keep current your expert’s C.V.
• How you can become an asset who can directly generate revenue.
• How you can help to assist your expert with depositions and trial testimony.
• Best practices in new case intake and communicating with clients.
• Why 100% precision is required in legal consulting.
• How to avoid mistakes and hidden pitfalls.
• How you can improve your experts’ image and make her more attractive to potential clients.
• Much, much more.

Distinguished Faculty: James J. Mangraviti, Jr., Esq. has trained thousands of expert witnesses. He is a former litigator with experience in defense and plaintiff personal injury law and insurance law. He currently serves as Principal of SEAK, Inc. Mr. Mangraviti received his BA degree in mathematics summa cum laude from Boston College and his JD degree cum laude from Boston College Law School. His publications include the texts The Biggest Mistakes Expert Witnesses Make: And How to Avoid Them, Depositions: The Comprehensive Guide for Expert Witnesses, The A-Z Guide to Expert Witnessing, Cross-Examination: The Comprehensive Guide for Experts, National Guide to Expert Witness Fees and Billing Procedures, Writing and Defending Your IME Report, How to Excel During Depositions: Techniques for Experts That Work, Writing and Defending Your Expert Report: The Step-by-Step Guide with Models, How to Become a Dangerous Expert Witness: Advanced Techniques and Strategies, and How to Market Your Expert Witness Practice: Evidence-Based Best Practices.

Registration Information: Tuition is $1,195 and includes two days of unique and practical instruction, a detailed printed
course manual not available anywhere else, and continental breakfast and lunch with faculty.

Continuing Education Information: There are no continuing education credits offered for this program.

Location/Hotel Accommodations
The Sea Crest Beach Hotel (www.seacrestbeachotel.com, 800-225-3110) is a full-service beach front hotel nestled in a beautiful oceanfront location in Falmouth, Massachusetts and has recently undergone an $18,000,000 renovation. A limited block of rooms will be available at special rates at the site hotel ($235 Single/Double). Rooms are limited and this rate expires July 21, 2012. To make your reservations please call 800-225-3110 and mention that you are with SEAK, Inc. These rates are available for a limited time and on a limited number of rooms so you are strongly encouraged to make your reservations as soon as possible. Falmouth is one of the Cape’s best playgrounds for vacationers of all ages and interests. It features over 75 miles of scenic coastline, three ferries to Martha’s Vineyard, countless dining options, numerous antique shops, the Shining Sea bike trail, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (which found the Titanic and Bismarck, among other famous accomplishments), numerous public golf courses and ocean temperatures and daytime high temperatures which both average in the 70s during the month of August. Nantucket ferries run from Hyannis, which is approximately thirty minutes (by car) from Falmouth.

SCHEDULE

DAY ONE: Tuesday, August 21, 2012

7:30–8:00 Continental Breakfast and Registration

8:00–9:15 Understanding the Expert Witness Process
No expert witness can be properly supported unless the expert witness’s support staff is acutely aware of what experts do and the rules they must operate under. In this segment attendees will learn: the expert’s role in an adversarial litigation, why the expert’s credibility is a key issue in litigation and the many ways this can affect how an expert’s support staff should do their jobs, how the discovery system works, including the limited protections available and how and why discoverability is a concern overriding almost everything an expert and his or her staff does. Stressed will be why 100% precision is critically important and how cases progress and why deadlines need to be adhered to.

9:15–10:30 How to Maintain and Bulletproof Your Expert’s C.V.
A prime function of any support person should be the maintenance, proofing, formatting, and general care of their expert witness’s curriculum vitae. This allows their expert to reduce non billable time. In this segment attendees will learn the common avoidable mistakes experts and their assistants make in maintaining CVs including typos, inaccuracies, out of date, puffery, poor formatting, self serving or subjective language, inclusion of superfluous information, incomplete information, and numerous other potential problems. Attendees will be taught how to improve their expert’s CVs (which they will be asked to bring with them to the course). In addition, attendees will learn how to institute protocols and procedures to make sure their expert’s CV is accurate and complete at all times. Finally, attendees will learn specific techniques they can implement to help build their expert’s CV, for example by obtaining for the expert speaking engagements.

10:30–10:45 Break and Networking Opportunity

10:45–12:00 Best Practices in Inquiry Calls, New Case Intake, and Communicating with Counsel
Support staff members commonly assist in both inquiry calls and new case intake. In this segment attendees will learn best practices for handling inquiry counsel communications. Included will be what information to give, what information to take, and how to make the best impression on counsel. This segment will also explain how to properly take in a new case, including: the importance of a written retention agreement, what should be in an expert’s written retention agreement and why, retainers, conflict checks, calendaring and a protocol for opening of a file. Also included will be how to prioritize calls and requests from counsel, how to properly draft cover correspondence and what should and should never be communicated in writing to counsel. Attendees will also learn the subtle art of gatekeeping in an arena where ready
accessibility is a trait hugely desired by retaining counsel.

12:00–12:45 Lunch With Faculty (Provided)

12:45–2:00 How to Proof, Quality Control and Improve the Persuasiveness of Your Expert’s Reports
An expert witness’s report is the work product that support staff can most readily help to improve. In this section attendees will learn specific techniques for improving the quality and persuasiveness of their expert’s reports. A large portion of this segment will be focused on teaching techniques to optimize the effectiveness of the attendee’s quality control review of their expert’s report including: how and when to proof the report, red flag terms and phrases to look out for, key information/sections that should normally be in an expert report, the RULE 26 requirements for reports prepared for federal court, and common and serious mistakes that computerized proofing functions do not catch. Attendees will be provided with a detailed checklist of problem areas to look out for. Attendees will also learn specific techniques of formatting, layout, and
using the built in features of their word processing programs to improve the persuasiveness of their expert’s reports.

2:00–3:00 Document Management: Best Practices
In this segment attendees will learn what types of documents not to create and what communications are best handled orally. Attendees will further learn what documents experts should retain, how long the documents should be retained, and how to properly close out a file so as to avoid the cost/necessity of storing the involved file. Special attention will be made to common issues such as field notes, draft reports, e-mails, lists of past testimony, past deposition transcripts, past reports, and underlining/highlighting on records. Also included will be a discussion of how to best prepare a file/documents for your expert’s case review.

3:00–3:15 Break and Networking Opportunity

3:15–4:15 Assisting with Depositions
In this segment attendees will learn how to assist their experts with depositions. Covered will be where and when to schedule the deposition, how to make sure you get paid for the deposition, getting paid for preparation time, errata sheets, preparing documents for deposition, responding to subpoenas, and how to behave if the deposition is held in the expert’s office. Stressed will be strategies and techniques to minimize an expert’s non-billable time and collection difficulties as well as methods for helping the expert to excel during the deposition.

4:15–5:00 How You Can Help Improve Your Expert’s Image & Reputation
The better the expert’s image and reputation, the more attractive the expert witness will be to potential clients. In this segment attendees will learn concrete action steps they can implement to help improve the image and reputation of their expert. Attendees will learn specific techniques they can implement for improving their expert’s image and reputation including email addresses, business cards, retention agreements, fee schedules, outgoing messages, business names, and not appearing too eager.

DAY TWO: Wednesday, August 22, 2012

6:30–7:00 Continental Breakfast

7:00–8:30 How to Best Assist Your Expert to Market and Expand Their Practice
Attendees will learn the unique challenges and risks associated with marketing an expert witness practice. The evidence based proven methods to market an expert witness practice will be explained as well as how to evaluate the true value of a new client. Attendees will learn what specifically they can do to assist in identifying and promoting a lucrative niche, placing and maintaining their advertisements, setting up speaking engagements, obtaining publicity, setting up networking events, optimizing a web site, improving their expert’s reputation, tracking referral sources and dealing with third party expert witness referral services. At the conclusion of this section attendees will be asked to create a list of marketing action steps they will implement upon their return from the seminar.

8:30–8:45 Break and Networking Opportunity

8:45–9:45 How to Maintain and Bulletproof Your Expert’s Web Sites, Web Listings, and Web Presence
Expert witnesses are often subjected to needless credibility damage due to information that they place on the internet or that is placed on the internet by someone else. Attendees will learn how to avoid the common and avoidable mistakes involving expert web pages including failure to update, puffery, claiming to be an expert in too many areas, keeping score, listing past cases and marketing gimmicks that are inappropriate for expert witnesses. Attendees will learn how and why “less is often more” when it comes to an expert’s web site. Attendees will also learn what they can do to assist in policing their expert’s web presence including dealing with negative reviews of the expert and locating and alerting the expert to potentially damaging information about the expert in cyberspace. Included will be interactive group exercises involving locating damaging information and bulletproofing expert witness web sites.

9:45–10:45 How to Make Sure Your Expert Gets Paid Top Dollar, In Full and On Time
Support staff are often in charge of an expert’s billings and collections. Attendees will learn how to best draft bills so as to avoid unnecessary and potentially damaging cross-examination, numerous contractual and procedural mechanisms for helping to assure their expert gets paid, how to track an expert’s time, what out-of-pockets to bill for and how, how and when to charge cancellation fees, and when to let counsel off the hook. Attendees will also learn how to properly set their expert’s rate(s) and retainer amount and how to brief their expert regarding fees and billings prior to testimony being given.

10:45–11:00 Break and Networking Opportunity

11:00–12:00 What Should be Included in Your Expert’s Retention Agreement
Attendees will learn why every expert should utilize a written retention agreement. Faculty will explain several areas that should be covered in an expert witness retention agreement and describe how and why these terms will protect the expert.

12:00–12:45 Lunch With Faculty (Provided)

12:45–1:15 Ethics and Risk Management
Attendees will learn the legal and ethical risks experts most commonly face. More importantly, attendees will learn specific action steps they can take to help protect their experts from liability and risk.

1:15–1:45 How and When Support Staff Can Bill For Their Own Time
Attendees will learn how, when, and why support staff can bill for their own time on a case, thus adding to their value and further reducing the practice’s non-billable time.

1:45–2:15 The Biggest Mistakes Expert Witness Support Staff Make: And How to Avoid Them
The faculty will review, in a bullet proof fashion, the biggest mistakes support staff make in assisting their expert witnesses. Attendees will learn how to avoid each of these mistakes. The list of mistakes will serve as a review of the concepts learned in the course and as a basis for action steps for the attendee to implement when they return to their practices.

2:15–2:30 Conclusion and Takeaways
Concluding remarks will be preceded by an attendee and faculty generated numbered list of action steps and takeaways from the covered material that attendees will be taking back to their practices. Attendees will be encouraged to draft an action memo to their experts for how the expert’s practice can be made more effective and profitable.

Price: $1,195.00