Conclusion

AuthorJohn Hollander
Pages305-307
conclusion

chapter eight
Conclusion
  , but they take a lot of work. Ex-
perts often have their own agendas; they may want to help,
but at a price. at price includes eort, risk, and money.
Judges often mistrust them as they take up court time and
can exert more inuence than they should. On the other
hand, judges depend upon them to ll in the gaps, to help
them reach conclusions that they could not otherwise.
And consider the risks. Whereas physicians undertake
“rst, do no harm,” lawyers take no such oath. Lawyers
take risks all the time they take risks for their clients;
they make recommendations based on unknown odds of
unforeseen outcomes; they expose themselves to risk of
complaints and negligence lawsuits.
So what is so special about experts? Lawyers have to
choose the experts, except in the case of participant ex-
perts. Even then, they have to choose which participants
they will bring to the courtroom. ey must negotiate the
terms of the retainer. ey must instruct the expert with
issue descriptions they predict, based on assumptions
they hope to prove at trial. Once trial begins, they must
convert their preparation into evidence. Because lawyers

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT