A hybrid witness is a fact witness who also happens to have the requisite knowledge, skill, or expertise to provide opinion testimony and whose opinion is formed as a result of the witness’ involvement in the subject events.1
Continue Reading The Best of Both Worlds! Join me on Friday at 2 for a Brief Presentation on Hybrid Expert Witnesses
In the legal world, there are generally two types of witnesses that you will see: (1) fact witnesses and (2) expert witnesses. Well, technically there are three, if you count hybrid witnesses. These types of witnesses serve both factual and expert purposes.
Continue Reading Are Public Adjusters, Restoration Contractors and Other On Scene Experts Hybrid Expert Witnesses? What Rules Apply To Them?
Yesterday afternoon, Jean Niven was presenting an in-house Merlin Law Group continuing legal education seminar about expert witnesses and the exacting standards for their allowance to testify in federal court. During the presentation, I thought about how a lost insurance coverage case1 could have ended differently if the policyholder’s expert witnesses had been allowed to testify about the damages. Jean is our firm’s expert witness authority. She works with our clients’ expert witnesses to make sure they are able to testify.
Continue Reading Insurance Coverage Cases Can Be Won or Lost Based on Expert Witnesses and The Preparation of Their Reports and Testimony
In first-party property cases, it is common that an insured’s expert goes to a property after the loss to investigate. During the investigation, an expert may ask the insured questions that are necessary to formulate that expert’s opinions, such as the observable condition of the property before the insured’s loss, or which items have been visibly damaged. This is because, often, the expert has never been to the property and must formulate an opinion about the cause and/or extent of the damage following the loss.
Continue Reading Can Experts Rely on an Insured’s Statement in Formulating their Opinions?
Expert Witnesses are important. In order to obtain a favorable verdict, policyholder lawyers must be able to perform exhaustive pre-trial preparation while also being able to effectively present evidence at trial, including expert-opinion evidence.
Continue Reading Great Expert Witnesses Are Important to Property Insurance Cases
Picking the right expert has never been more important when fighting an insurance company that has wrongfully denied an insurance claim. The rule for expert admissibility has just changed in Florida and the same concerns about experts apply everywhere.
Continue Reading Claim Denied? Why Picking the Wrong Expert Can Cost You
Recently, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal found that a trial court abused its discretion by allowing the trial testimony of an insured homeowner’s expert when he expanded on his opinions during trial. The case is Citizens Property Insurance Corporation v. Vazquez.1
Continue Reading Get Your Experts Opinions Nailed Down Ahead of Trial, or Else!
In a first-party property insurance dispute, a property owner may seek to have a lay witness or expert witness testify that the value of his or her property diminished in value as a result of the loss.
Continue Reading Lay Witness or Expert Witness Testimony on Diminished Value?
Generally, in Florida, when there is a difference of opinions between each party’s expert, the jury gets to decide who’s right, not the judge. But there has been a trend by insurance companies in the first-party property context of taking their expert’s report before the judge and arguing, in essence, “our expert’s right, the insured’s is wrong, so find in favor of the insurance company as a matter of law.”
Continue Reading Appellate Court Reverses Summary Judgment Where Battle of Experts Created a Jury Question
Insurance companies hire all kinds of experts to help them for all kinds of reasons. The problem is that some experts are not honest and never try to find the truth. The other problem is some policyholders or their under-financed attorneys do not hire experts or very good experts.
Continue Reading Experts Regarding Causation Can Be More Important Than Witnesses — or, Don’t Believe Your Lying Eyes When Your Insurance Company Hires an Expert