An interview with: Jeffrey E. Myers – Blank
Rome, LLP
by Robert Ambrogi - Editor
BullsEye Newsletter: July 2005
The one time veteran employment litigator Jeffrey E. Myers
ignored his own rule about hiring an expert, it almost cost
him his case. It is a mistake he won't ever make again.
"Never rely on someone else to make the final selection of your expert – especially
someone you don't have a close relationship with," advises Myers, a partner
with Blank Rome LLP in Philadelphia.
In selecting an expert, he believes, the most important consideration is that
the lawyer and the expert have "absolute personal comfort and rapport" with
each other. The only way to be sure of that, he adds, is through an in-depth,
face-to-face interview before you hire the expert.
That is why Myers' gut told him to be careful when he allowed local counsel in
a sexual harassment trial he was defending to select the psychological expert.
The expert had been described as "the best in town," but when Myers
questioned the sloppiness of the expert's report, he recalls, the expert "flipped
out on me."
Fortunately for Myers, it happened far enough before trial for him to bring in
another expert – one he had worked with before.
Then, in an uncanny turn of events, the plaintiff's expert flipped
– only this time the flip came in the middle of trial. Under
cross-examination by Myers – one his replacement expert helped
prepare – the plaintiff's psychological expert admitted that
nothing Myers' client had done had contributed to the woman's emotional
state.
In speaking to plaintiff's counsel afterwards, Myers learned that he had made
the same mistake – failing to interview the expert extensively beforehand.
For Myers, this case drives home his belief that a lawyer must establish for
himself that he has absolute confidence in the expert. "There has to be
that confidence and rapport," he says.
The only way to establish that confidence is through face-to-face interviews,
he believes. "When you interview someone, you know whether you have a rapport
with them." Consider also whether the expert is suitable for the audience
you will face in the courtroom and will be sensitive to that audience.
For lawyers who have not had substantial experience hiring experts, Myers advises
that they be candid in the interview. "Lay your cards on the table. Be up
front about your own experience or lack of experience. Ask the expert, 'How will
you support me and help me win this case?'"
At all costs, avoid experts who come across in the interview as arrogant and
patronizing, Myers says, because that is how they will come across to the jury.
"At the end of the day, the client has to be served,"
Myers notes. "If an expert is going to play ego games, walk
away."
Jeffrey Myers is a Partner at Blank Rome, LLP. in Philadelphia and can be reached
at 215-569-5500.
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here for full text of this opinion.
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