Expert Witness Blog

At The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) website, Carolyn I. Polowy, JD and law clerk Joel Gilbertson, write on Social Workers as Expert Witnesses:

Courts of law rely upon information offered in evidence as the basis for decisions rendered. Evidence comes in many forms, including photographs, recordings, devices, forensic evidence, documents, and individual testimony. Oral testimony by witnesses is, however, often the major source of evidence at a trial.

Witnesses who testify as experts play an important role in interpreting data, explaining complex material, and drawing knowledgeable inferences based upon their training and experience. Social workers are called to testify as expert witnesses on a variety of subjects. This Law Note discusses the role of the expert witness and reviews case law confirming the role of social workers as expert witnesses in a variety of settings.

For more, see NASW.

For the International Building Code expert witness:

The International Builders' Show (IBS), January 19, 2010, Las Vegas, is the largest annual building industry trade show in the country. Billed as "THE place to see and discuss the hottest products on the market and network with your friends and allies," IBS offers more than 175 education sessions taught by industry experts.

You can attend the show and not be a member of NAHB; however, NAHB members are eligible for discounted registration fees. The International Builders' Show is the largest annual light construction show in the world with attendees coming from over 70 countries. Show organizers state "We are proud to be one of the US trade shows to be chosen by the US Department of Commerce to participate in the International Buyer Program."

For more, see http://www.buildersshow.com/Home/Page.aspx?pageID=1.

The Gotham City Networking Expert Witness Group offers networking opportunities and monthly speaker/topic or group discussions on topics of interest to fellow experts. Scheduled meetings are Nov.16, Dec.14, Jan.11, Feb.8, Mar.15, May 20, June 21, Sept.13, Oct.18, Nov.15 and Dec.13, all at 12:15pm at Fabio Piccolo Fiore's Italian Restaurant (230 E.44th between 2nd and 3rd Ave.).

Please contact group leader Gerald M. Goldhaber directly to visit a monthly luncheon meeting.

Gerald M. Goldhaber, Ph.D.
President and CEO
GRA, LLC
(212)379-6661 (O)
(917)279-2303 (Cell)
www.goldhaber.com

The ABA Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law and the ABA Criminal Justice Section announces a new publication Criminal Mental Health and Disability Law, Evidence and Testimony: A Comprehensive Reference Manual for Lawyers, Judges and Criminal Justice Professionals. The new criminal mental health/disability law book is the most comprehensive to date and the first book to examine in detail the legal relationships that link criminal justice, mental health, and disability discrimination law.

Chapters include:

A legal history of mental health and disability in the criminal justice system
Overview of legal terms, concepts, developments, and considerations
Criminal incompetency: pre-trial, trial, and post-trial
Insanity and diminished culpability
Dangerousness standards in the law, including death penalty
Jails, prisons and secure "treatment" facilities: conditions of confinement and release
Admissibility of expert evidence and testimony
Mental health diagnoses and assessments
Glossary
Detailed index and table of contents
Table of cases

To order, visit the ABA webstore or call: 1-800-285-2221

The topic for the April 20th meeting of the Forensic Expert Witness Association (FEWA) is “The NAS Report on Forensic Science and Legal Challenges to Scientific Testimony.” The presenter is attorney and UCI Professor William C. Thompson, PhD.

In February, the National Academies of Science issued their 254 page report, Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward, that is quite critical of the state of forensic science in the United States. Professor Thompson is quoted in this report several times and will speak on how attorneys challenge science and the impact of this report for experts and the legal system.

William C. Thompson is Professor and Chair of the Department of Criminology, Law & Society at the University of California, Irvine. He has a Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University and a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. He studies the way people interpret (and sometimes misinterpret) scientific and statistical data and has also written extensively about the use and misuse of DNA evidence.

Although primarily an academic, Thompson occasionally represents clients in cases involving novel scientific and statistical issues. He argued the first case on admissibility of DNA evidence before the Supreme Court of New Mexico and was a member of the “dream team” that represented O.J. Simpson during his criminal trial. He has consulted with police departments, coroners and lawyers on a variety of cases involving scientific evidence in the US, the UK, and Australia. He has also assisted in several important journalistic investigations of crime labs, including the investigation that exposed problems in the notorious Houston Police Department Crime Laboratory. It was Thompson who discovered the DNA typing error that falsely incriminated a Houston man named Josiah Sutton.

Thompson served as Reporter for the American Bar Association Standards Committee Study Group on DNA Evidence and was a member of the ABA Task Force on Biological Evidence. He co-chairs the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). He is also a member of the California Crime Laboratory Task
Force, a body created by the state legislature to recommend ways of improving forensic science in California.

Monday, April 20th, 5:30PM - Radisson Hotel, corner of MacArthur Blvd. & Birch St., Newport Beach, CA 92660
Reservations Required: info@forensic.org or 949.640.9903
Non Members must prepay in advance MC or Visa with exp. date,
FEWA Members $45, Non-members $60

National Medical Consultants, P.C., is sponsoring the Medical Malpractice Seminar of 2007 which benefits the Children’s Sunrise Fund. The seminar will be offered in 3 installments each with different speakers and 7.5 hours of CLE hours. The dates and locations are as follows:
September, 10, 2007 – at the Marriot in Trumbull, Connecticut
7.5 CLE Credits

September, 20, 2007 – at the Marriot in Uniondale, Long Island, N.Y.
7.5 CLE (1.5 ethics) Credits

September, 26, 2007 – at the Marriott East Side, New York City
7.0 CLE (0.5 ethics) Credits

For details and registration for the seminars and to order the master DVD/CD that includes hours from a previous seminar totalling 26 CLE (2.0 ethics) credits, go to nationalmedicalconsultants.com.

Further contact information is as follows:
Telephone: 718-423-9167 Facsimile: 718-423-9169
E-mail: medicalconsultants@nyc.rr.com
Website: nationalmedicalconsultants.com

The attorneys and marketing staff of the JurisPro Expert Witness Directory have launched the ExpertWitnessBlog. This blog will focus on information pertinent to attorneys, consultants, and other legal professionals concerning expert witness subjects. These topics will include expert witness marketing, news about experts, Daubert challenges, expert witness testimony, and upcoming events of interest to experts and lawyers.