What is an expert witness? there is any certified course for expert witness?

Hello Vedant Utpat,

An expert witness is a person with specialized knowledge and generally also specialized experience who is hired and generally paid by one side or another in a lawsuit to provide context and help the judge and / or jury understand the issues in a way that is beneficial to that side. Typically each side will have its own expert(s), who will explain to the court why only their side is correctly interpreting what happened.

For example, in a medical malpractice case involving a surgical error, an expert who is a retired head of surgery at a major hospital can talk about how reasonable or unreasonable the error might have been, and whether it could have happened even if the surgeon and hospital took all due care in caring for the patient.

.

In US courts it is a fairly low bar in that an expert is merely one who knows more than the average person about a particular subject and their expertise is sufficient to help the trier of fact (judge or jury) come to an accurate conclusion. With that said, there is a potentially rigorous process for being approved by a judge to be an expert in a particular field. One must submit their qualifications, testify to them under oath, be cross-examined and challenged on the root of their expertise, the relevance of their expertise to the case at hand, their neutrality and ethical pureness etc. That process is repeated during every case you work, although once well established it get's a little more routine than exploratory in nature.

Now, one may be an expert consultant on cases (not testifying) in which case you help an attorney evaluate elements of the case, aid in their trial strategy etc. In that case you skip the voir dire (questioning from the stand) process above and essentially prove your expertise on paper by submitting your CV (curriculum vitae) or, less commonly, your resume.

Science-based experts (forensics etc) are qualified based on their academic and professional history. Membership in professional associations and being a recognized leader in your field is almost a prerequisite to getting work as an expert as it makes you easier to be seen as credible. Culture experts is trickier as there is not necessarily an "industry-recognized standard" or scientific methodology that your opinion can be measured against to determine accuracy. In that case it is more a matter of your exposure and involvement in a particular field and your capacity to convincingly translate that experience into an expertise and narrative likely to be embraced by others.

For example: I am an "Expert in Urban, Prison & Gang Culture". I have worked on death-penalty RICO cases, numerous state cases and immigration. There is not a widely accepted scientific methodology in identifying gang members or whether a crime was gang related in the same way that there are DNA tests that have a high degree of reliability or ballistic science which can determine if a bullet was fired from a specific weapon. The foundation of my expertise is, in short, that I was a street and prison gang member for many years. Upon paroling 10 yrs ago I committed to helping advance a culture of non-violence, healing and transformation in low income communities of color through a range of non-profit engagement. I became a recognized leader, effective at both direct services to youth and adults in gang influenced communities and detention centers as well as program design and management. So, my personal experience coupled with a continued access to the culture from various perspectives, my "studying" if you will in both traditional and non-traditional environments/formats has enabled me to quite clearly meet the bar and be accepted by the courts. The uniqueness of my expertise makes me an in-demand consultant for defense attorneys. *Prosecutors rely exclusively on active law enforcement, hence my failure to work with them on a case-it is their preference more so than mine, although they generally do not like my perspective.

.

It's a fascinating and quite lucrative line of work.  Jennifer Ellis is quite right that actual in-court testimony is a nail-biting experience, because the opposing side's lawyers are constantly trying to make the expert look bad.

But in big cases, experts enjoy lots of help with their research - and a payment system that means the meter is always running. Short of founding a company, it's one of the best ways I've ever encountered for getting paid a lot of money for one's smarts. Or, more correctly, for a well-blended mix of knowledge and showmanship.

My favorite expert witness of all time, California economist David Teece, has gone on to build an entire industry around what he does. He has earned a marvelous income testifying in all sorts of business cases (from baby formula to cement) ... and then has done even better by founding two companies that specializes in providing and prepping expert witnesses.  Here's a link to a story about Teece & Co. that I wrote for The Wall Street Journal a while ago: An Economist's Courtroom Bonanza. He has moved on from LECG since the article was written; he now runs Berkeley Research Group.

.

Hope this helps...

Thank you and all the best...