Articles Posted in Expert Witness Marketing

In Your Competitive Advantage, leading authority on expert witness marketing and founder of Expert Communications Rosalie Hamilton writes:

After objectively assessing your own strengths and weaknesses, determine your competitive advantage. Is your education or professional experience superior? If you are not a novice, have you handled a greater number of cases, or bigger or more successful cases, or have you worked with prestigious law firms? Do you present yourself more professionally or appear more credible? Are there exclusive dimensions to your expertise? What comprises your personal uniqueness and, therefore, your competitive edge?

Read more: http://www.expertcommunications.com/

In Who Said Experts Shouldn’t Advertise?, leading authority on expert witness marketing and founder of Expert Communications Rosalie Hamilton writes:

In response to one of our recent emails to Expert News readers, we received an email saying, “I thought experts are not supposed to advertise, even through websites.”

I think you might find our dialogue of interest. I have edited the communication for length and confidentiality.

In Your Competitive Advantage, leading authority on expert witness marketing and founder of Expert Communications Rosalie Hamilton writes:

Who is your competition, and how do you compare? Considering that most cases requiring an expert witness involve at least two experts and our society shows no signs of becoming less litigious, competition should not be your primary concern in building an expert practice. You will learn valuable lessons, however, from analyzing the practices of two or three experts in your field. Study their professional qualifications, appearance, communication skills, and reputation among their peers, and note how they market themselves and the fees they charge.

Read more: http://www.expertcommunications.com/

In Who Said Experts Shouldn’t Advertise?, leading authority on expert witness marketing and founder of Expert Communications Rosalie Hamilton writes:

In response to one of our recent emails to Expert News readers, we received an email saying, “I thought experts are not supposed to advertise, even through websites.”

I think you might find our dialogue of interest. I have edited the communication for length and confidentiality.

In Peaks and Valleys for Expert Witnesses construction site expert witness William Gulya, Jr., President & CEO, Middlesex Trenching Company, writes:

“The worst part of a tight economy is a lack of funds to properly represent clients [President Carmen Roberto of the Ohio State Bar Association]. As a defense attorney he has had to forego hiring his own expert witness and relied on cross-examination of the prosecution’s witness. A possible upside is that tools like mediation, designed to ease court dockets, are being used now to save money.” (“Economy has ripple effect on lawyers,” J.D. Bruewer, October 5, 2010, www.limaohio.com.)

There you have it from the source: Attorneys do cut back on expenses in a bad economy and may even forego hiring an expert that they would otherwise have hired in a better economy. This equates to a lower retention rate for experts. That said, and with all due respect to Mr. Roberto, this is generally a big mistake in most cases. As Melvin Belli Sr. said, “The cost may be high to employ the expert, but it may be well higher not to employ one. Indeed, counsel who chooses to proceed without an expert may be flirting with malpractice.” (Melvin Belli Sr., Trial Magazine)

In Peaks and Valleys for Expert Witnesses construction site expert witness William Gulya, Jr., President & CEO, Middlesex Trenching Company, writes:

One would initially think slower business might mean cost cutting on safety or reduced staffing causing overworking of employees, and higher productivity demands by management causing haste and a greater margin for error or bad judgment. Moreover, while some of this may occur, these are not the main reasons for a reduction in the retention of experts. When business slows, the incidents of product failure, construction accidents, personal injury, etc. slow with it. It comes down to simple math — less opportunity equals fewer occurrences.

Experts who have been practicing for several years, through bad or slower than usual economies, report having experienced increased negotiation of expert fees. Attorneys and referral agencies will actively negotiate in an attempt to lower the expert’s hourly fee. “It’s not personal; it’s just business.”

In Peaks and Valleys for Expert Witnesses construction site expert witness William Gulya, Jr., President & CEO, Middlesex Trenching Company, writes:

No matter which field of expertise you specialize in, as an expert witness you will experience peaks and valleys in the number of cases you are retained to opine on in a given year.

This may lead you to question your marketing efforts. And that is not, in and of itself, a bad idea. Your marketing plan should be reviewed every six months anyway. But your marketing program may not be the problem — it may be the economy. Yes, even expert witness practices are subject to the effects of a bad economy.

In Experts – How do you Advertise?, construction expert witness William Gulya, Jr., President & CEO, Middlesex Trenching Company, writes:

The next topic was print advertising such as post cards, newsletters, ads in law journals and alike. To my surprise the vast majority of experts did not participate in this type of advertising. The main reasons given for this was cost and time. Many experts felt the return on their investment was too small. More importantly, they believed the time it took to compose the advertising, create artwork, label and mail advertising was simply too time-consuming. I for one participate in each and every form of advertising mentioned. A regular marketing plan to your target audience can pay huge dividends. Admittedly, I use and depend on a marketing professional for this purpose.

The discussion then turned into advertising your service. Many of the experts had a guarded view of advertising. The most common concern was how to answer questions by opposing counsel about expert advertising. I was reminded of a piece I read not long ago in which a professional in expert marketing – Rosalie Hamilton, the Expert’s Expert on Marketing, http://www.expertcommunications.com/, said –

Marketing expert witnesses may opine on marketing effectiveness, marketing research, marketing strategy, and more. At Expert Communications.com, Rosalie Hamilton provides methods for experts to find prospective attorneys, companies and insurers that need their expert consultant services. At ExpertCommunications.blogspot.com, attorney Elliott Wilcox, lead trial lawyer in nearly 200 jury trials and numerous non-jury trials, writes Tips for Testifying. Mr. Wilcox cautions that this is just a quick primer.

Don’t get rushed. Get into the pattern of “Question – Pause – Answer.” By ensuring that you pause after each question (regardless of the question’s difficulty) you’ll avoid getting pushed into rapidly answering the defense attorney’s questions.

Talk to individual jurors, not “the jury.” Make eye contact with individuals. Think “conversation,” not “soliloquy.”

In Experts – How do you Advertise?, construction expert witness William Gulya, Jr., President & CEO, Middlesex Trenching Company, writes:

Recently I had the opportunity to be involved in an in-depth discussion and survey of experts regarding the best forms of advertising. While hardly a scientific survey, the comments and results were extremely interesting.

Referral and listing services such as Forensis Group, TASA, JurisPro, HG Experts and others were mentioned. These services differ in how they charge experts. Some charge an annual fee to be listed in their database and some add a fee to the client who hires you through their service. The results were mixed. Approximately 70% of the experts favored services such as these. Some had very good experiences and some did not. For this expert the use of referral and listing services is a great form of exposure and an asset to my practice. These services receive thousands of hits or visits by attorneys looking for qualified experts. The cost is minimal compared to the amount of exposure and potential leads you can receive.