Michael Lawson Neff, P.C. | Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyers
Personal Injury Lawyer, Atlanta
Michael Lawson Neff | Personal Injury Lawyer, Atlanta
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Atlanta, Georgia Personal Injury Lawyer



Friday, July 18, 2008

  Expert witnesses

LawyersUSA.com reporter Justin Rebello wrote an article on finding expert witnesses. In the article he interviewed Michael Brennan a research analyst at law firm who specializes in researching expert witnesses. He keeps a computer database containing 7,500 categories of experts.

He discusses going to Amazon or the Library of Congress and search for book on it. There's a very good chance the person who wrote the book is an expert. Colleges and universities are a great resource if you need experts in physics or whatever it might be academically.

For researching opposing witnesses - it's mostly fact gathering for attorneys to see what their background and expertise is.

Three things cited for researching expert's educational background, their professional licensing and their association memberships.

To determine if experts will make for good witnesses - there is a recommendation to look for teachers, such as a college professor, who have experience explaining a concept to an audience. Consultants also have the skills to communicate to an audience.

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Thursday, July 17, 2008

  Lawyer's jabs draw objection

Being a litigator is a stressful job. Usually personal injury lawyers deal with the stress and keep their behavior in line. However, the Athens Banner-Herald reported
that a Clarke County Superior Court judge has rebuked a local attorney for ridiculing another attorney about his star-shaped lapel pin, a pin the U.S. Army gave in recognition of his son's service and death in Iraq.

Clarke County Superior Court Judge David Sweat held that Georgia lawyer Jim Smith tried to use personal tragedy to provoke fellow attorney Andrew Marshall, whose son Evan died in January when a roadside bomb exploded while the Army corporal was in Iraq.

Smith allegedly made a comment that Marshall thought his son's death gave him the right to intimidate Smith's client, who also is a veteran. Smith refused to discuss Sweat's criticisms on the record.

Judge Sweet awarded Marshall attorney's fees and called Smith's comments "totally uncalled for" and "so ignoble as to bring the legal profession in disrepute."
The Judge also reportedly sent copies to all Superior Court judges in the Western Circuit, as well as the State Bar of Georgia.

During a second deposition, Marshall asked a witness questions Smith thought were irrelevant, and after the witness refused to answer, Marshall announced he was ending the deposition and planned to ask the court to order the witness to pay attorney's fees. Smith told Marshall to "jump in a lake" and then asked, "Where's your pin today?" according to the transcript.

Marshall began to say, "I'll be serving you with...," but Smith interrupted and asked again, "Where's your pin today?" Marshall ordered Smith to leave his office, and accused Smith of dishonoring his late son.

This is a shame and is definitely in the very small minority of lawyers. It is acceptable to be aggressive and zealous in your representation of your client. It is not acceptable to attack your opposing counsel by mentioning the death of a child. Based on reading the above, I'm glad the Judge took the action that he did.


For the full article see http://onlineathens.com/stories/062508/news_20080625068.shtml

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