|
How to Vet an Expert by Robert Ambrogi - Editor In perhaps the most dramatic recent example, a New Orleans federal judge threw out a jury verdict in favor of pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. after a cardiologist who testified for the defense in a Vioxx trial was found to have misrepresented his credentials. A few weeks earlier in California, a man who fraudulently
passed himself off as a computer forensics expert in two cases
pleaded guilty to federal perjury charges. In Toronto, a psychiatrist
had his license suspended after lying about his credentials while
serving as an expert witness in two trials. Yes, we all now know to check Google, but this article looks at some of the lesser-known – and mostly free – research tools you may be bypassing. Of course, these Web tools are neither foolproof nor exhaustive. No Web site can substitute for using a reputable expert-search service. WORDS CAN HAUNT YOU The old adage, "What you say may come back
to haunt you," has never been more true. With millions of
people posting to blogs and participating in Internet discussion
groups, we are creating permanent records of our words and thoughts –
like it or not. Another source of potentially damaging comments by or about an expert is the Internet's many news groups and discussion lists. To find postings someone made to one of these, search Google Groups. It hosts a variety of current groups as well as an archive of more than 750 million Usenet postings dating back to 1985. As podcasts become more popular, they also should be included in a background search. Perhaps the person you are researching said something pertinent in a podcast or was the subject of someone else's podcast comment. Several sites claim to search podcasts, but most of these actually search only the accompanying text – the title, description, author and any metadata – but not the audio file. A handful of tools now enable you to search the full spoken text of podcasts. One of the best is Podzinger . It is based on speech-recognition technology developed for U.S. intelligence to monitor foreign television and radio broadcasts. It uses this technology to create a textual index of the audio data in any MP3 or WAV file, converting the spoken words into searchable text. NETWORKING SITES Where professionals once networked at cocktail parties and civic events, today you are more likely to find them connecting through any of a number of networking Web sites. The most popular at the moment is LinkedIn where members post information about their careers and their connections and share mutual recommendations. If your expert is listed on LinkedIn, read his profile carefully. How does his listing compare with what he has provided to you? Also, look for references from others and examine his network of connections for any that might help either verify or call into question his background. Other business networking sites include Ziggs, Ryze, and Orkut. Of course, be sure also to check personal networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook . CORPORATE RECORDS Anyone researching a publicly traded company would
know to check the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission's EDGAR database. But
fewer think to search EDGAR for information about individuals,
even though it may contain a wealth of information. Corporate
filings can provide information on an individual's business affiliations,
employment arrangements, investments, and more. Even an individual's
education and employment history can sometimes be tracked through
EDGAR. HISTORICAL WEB Web sites change over time. If your expert has a Web site, what it says today may differ from what it said five years ago. The best way to track historical changes in someone's Web site is through the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. Here, you can find an archive that captures historical snapshots of sites. While not exhaustive, it is likely to have at least some pages showing earlier versions of a site. PUBLIC RECORDS Any number of major research systems sell access
to public records. These include LexisNexis, Westlaw, ChoicePoint ,
and Accurint.
But many public records are now available online for little or
no cost. A variety of Web sites help direct you to these online
sources of public records.
SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS Due to privacy concerns, it is difficult to find
social security numbers on the Web these days. But you can easily
verify that a number is valid and belongs to a living person.
Enter a number in The SSN
Validator and it will tell you whether the number has been
issued, in which state it was issued, when it was issued, and
whether any death claims exist against the number. It will not
tell you the identity of the holder of the number. PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALS Various sources allow you to check the credentials of public school teachers. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards maintains a directory, available at www.nbpts.org/resources/nbct_directory, of teachers with national board certification. Several states maintain their own publicly accessible databases of teachers certified to teach in public schools. New York's for example, is at http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/teach/index.html. The best way to find whether one is available for
a particular state is to check the Web site of the state's education
department. A directory of state education department sites is
maintained by the U.S. Department of Education at http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/ccseas.asp. DOCKETS Is your expert a party to pending litigation? To
find out in federal court, check the U.S.
Party/Case Index . This is a national index of parties and
cases for U.S. district, bankruptcy and appellate courts. It
is updated nightly. Use of it requires a PACER account. Not all
federal courts participate, but the site includes a list of those
that do not. Another low-cost option for searching federal court dockets is Who's Suing Whom. A private translation and interpretation services firm offers this tool for searching patent, trademark or copyright cases pending in federal courts. Search by case type and party name, court, state or date to find basic case information. There is a charge to retrieve full-text court dockets. VITAL RECORDS Vital records – birth, death and marriage certificates and divorce decrees – are increasingly available free online through state and local government sources. Vital Records Information tells where to find them anywhere in the U.S. It lists sources for each state, territory and county, and most cities and towns, along with contact, fee and ordering information. For records outside the U.S., the site lists links to foreign vital records sites. This straightforward site is designed with a nod towards genealogy, but it is one many lawyers are sure to find useful. EXPERT WITNESS RULINGS The Daubert Tracker is a Web site developed specifically to help lawyers track cases involving the admissibility of expert testimony and, in particular, find out how specific experts fared in the courts. Its central feature is a database of all reported cases under Daubert and its progeny, trial and appellate, backed up when available by full-text briefs, transcripts and docket entries. Part of what makes the site unique is that it links cases to experts. Even if the expert is not named in the court decision, the site's editors track down the expert's identity. A year subscription is $295 or you can purchase a two-hour session for $25 or a half-hour for $10. For free, you can search the site's collection of more than 10,000 briefs and other supporting documents from both appellate and trial courts relating to expert witness testimony. If you find a document you are interested in, you can also view the first 10 percent of it free. If you decide you want to purchase the complete document, the cost is $15 for non-subscribers and $7.50 for subscribers. WRITINGS An increasingly popular resource for scholarly publications is the Social Science Research Network . This international collaborative is home to scholarly research covering more than 400 subject areas. It contains abstracts of more than 150,000 working papers and the full text of well over 100,000 published papers. This makes SSRN an essential source for researching an expert's published papers. Another useful source is ISI HighlyCited.com. This site provides profiles and bibliographic information for the most highly cited researchers in 21 broad subject categories. For listed individuals, the site provides biographical information – including education, faculty and professional posts, memberships and offices, current research interests and personal Web sites – as well as a full listing of publications, including journal articles, books, and conference proceedings. OTHER The U.S. government maintains any number of databases that could be relevant to vetting an expert, depending on his field of expertise. One often worth checking is the Excluded Parties List System. It provides information on individuals and companies that are excluded from receiving federal contracts and federal financial assistance. When it comes to checking someone's background,
more is better. The more sources you use, the more complete your
search. The free and low-cost resources described here provide
useful supplements to more expensive research services.
|
 Our Contact :Phone: 877-838-8464 |
Copyright
2008 IMS ExpertsServices All Rights Reserved |