Joseph B. Evans, J.D.

“The role of experts in high-stakes litigation has become more prominent than ever”.  As such, it is important for litigants to know about the different types of expert witnesses and how they can be utilized.  This article seeks to provide a primer on the variety of experts that exist and the ways that litigants can

Posted on January 4, 2017 in Working with Experts

Expert reports can make or break a case. Mistakes in an expert report could preclude the expert from testifying; while a clear and comprehensive expert report could tip the scales in litigation.

Posted on January 31, 2017 in Resources for Experts & Working with Experts

Effective expert witness cross-examination relies on thorough preparation, focusing on a few key points, challenging the expert's credibility, and crafting a clear narrative to guide the jury.

Posted on February 7, 2017 in Working with Experts

The massive Taxotere multi-district litigation (“MDL”) arises out of a breast cancer chemotherapy drug, which plaintiffs claim has caused the undisclosed side-effect of permanent baldness. As is common in many large-scale pharmaceutical cases, the Taxotere case involves hundreds of claims, as well as highly technical medical issues. As a result, the Taxotere MDL is the

Posted on March 28, 2017 in News

Materiality is one of the most hotly litigated issues in securities cases, and expert testimony on this topic can be the difference between winning and losing.  In a securities fraud misstatement case, it must be proven that the misstatement or omission would have been “material” to a reasonable investor.  Particularly when a case involves complex

Posted on March 28, 2017 in Working with Experts

Copyright cases often come down to a battle of the experts.  The technical nature of proving liability and the rather complex issue of actual damages and the valuation of lost profits, makes copyright litigation a field where expert witnesses play a crucial role.  Experts are routinely utilized in copyright cases for two primary reasons: (1)

Posted on April 4, 2017 in Working with Experts

In recent years, whether a putative securities class is certified or not has been coming down to the expert witnesses involved, as well as their reports and event studies. This is due do the fact that the issues the Court must decide are not merely legal. The Court must determine whether the particular market is

Posted on April 18, 2017 in News

Recently, there has been an epidemic of physicians and their staff becoming embroiled in what are commonly referred to as “Pill Mill” cases.  The general theory of these prosecutions is that the doctors involved have been over-prescribing unneeded or overly expensive medication in order to generate profits.  In Pill Mill cases, the critical issue for the

Posted on April 20, 2017 in Working with Experts

Defamation cases lie at the intersection of the right to free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment and protecting individuals and companies from being unjustly and publicly impugned.  A hallmark of defamation cases is the dispute over whether or not the statement is actually false.  No matter how harmful a statement may be, if the

Posted on April 25, 2017 in Working with Experts

For the uninitiated, tax cases are often thought of as binary in nature – either taxes were filed correctly and paid, or they were not. In actuality, they are much more complex. Serious criminal tax investigations and prosecutions cases are not often borne from mere failures to pay or file tax returns. They are often

Posted on May 9, 2017 in Working with Experts