Post Fifty-Six: A fun deposition
Yesterday, I attended the deposition of an expert witness. This was one of those we attorneys live for.
The case involves an alleged premature discharge from an ER. In this case, the "expert" (please apply the quotation marks anywhere this term is used herein) was the plaintiffs’ designated expert on a nurse's standard of care. It was his first deposition (an interesting fact for an alleged expert), and was undoubtedly an educational experience for him.
The witness obtained his R.N. license in 2001 and, incredibly, started his legal nurse consulting business the same year. The expert got his start in the consulting business by attending a training seminar offered by some fly-by-night rip-off technical school, which consisted of a 6-day course, 10 hours a day, followed by a pass-fail exam.
While he was offering opinions on the standard of care for emergency room nurses, his experience as an emergency room nurse is limited. He is employed as a "float" nurse at a smallish hospital, and picks up his shifts when other nurses go on vacation or are sick. He spends most of his shifts in the cardiac wing. Very few of his shifts are actually spent in the emergency/intensive care wing. In fact, the expert admitted that his last shift in the ER came in June or July of 2005, when he was pulled in to aid with Hurricane Katrina victims.
Yeah, his lack of qualifications to offer "expert" testimony is interesting and all, but it got vastly more entertaining. During the 1980s, this guy worked in a bank in downtown Dallas. The expert was repeatedly asked questions regarding any periods of unemployment during this time, to which he responded that there may have been periods in-between jobs, or when he moved back home. Finally, the expert admitted that he had been arrested for DUI, and that this may have been the reason that he lost his job in Dallas.
However, it then got really good: the guy was asked point blank about a conviction for cocaine possession, at which point he admitted he was incarcerated for seven months during the late-1980s for such charges. He had been convicted of cocaine possession and several counts of theft (which were committed in an attempt to support his habit) and jailed in the state pen, followed by a lengthy probation period.
Notably, plaintiffs’ counsel was not aware of any of the foregoing, and a break was taken at which time I'm sure this was all discussed in detail.
The expert then testified that the Board of Nursing was aware of this conviction, and that when he sought his nursing license he was brought before the Board to discuss same. According to the witness, the Board chalked this up as a youthful indiscretion (I find that slightly hard to believe), and granted his license unencumbered. Notably, he was only "pretty sure" that these convictions were disclosed to his previous and current nursing employers.
And it kept piling on: the guy also maintains a website that he professed ignorance as to the workings of. He testified that a "foreigner" put the website together, with his only input being some internet sites from which various information was culled. Notably the website greatly exaggerates the services he offers, his experience, and oversteps the bounds for what sort of opinions he would be permitted to offer as a nurse-care expert (including providing various legal opinions) .
The expert also uses a newsletter to advertise his services, which was available online during his deposition (thanks, wireless connection!), but has since been removed (unsurprisingly). This newsletter is rife with statements that, at minimum, look bad regarding the valuation of potential cases for potential monetary damages. I don't think jurors really want to know that the experts are looking at cases involving maimings, loss of limbs, and death as potential windfalls of money.
I've spared many details, but this guy was simply destroyed. But really, this guy brought it on himself, and he really shouldn't have tried to hide his criminal history, or tried to sell himself as an expert. But it was one hell of a fun deposition.
The case involves an alleged premature discharge from an ER. In this case, the "expert" (please apply the quotation marks anywhere this term is used herein) was the plaintiffs’ designated expert on a nurse's standard of care. It was his first deposition (an interesting fact for an alleged expert), and was undoubtedly an educational experience for him.
The witness obtained his R.N. license in 2001 and, incredibly, started his legal nurse consulting business the same year. The expert got his start in the consulting business by attending a training seminar offered by some fly-by-night rip-off technical school, which consisted of a 6-day course, 10 hours a day, followed by a pass-fail exam.
While he was offering opinions on the standard of care for emergency room nurses, his experience as an emergency room nurse is limited. He is employed as a "float" nurse at a smallish hospital, and picks up his shifts when other nurses go on vacation or are sick. He spends most of his shifts in the cardiac wing. Very few of his shifts are actually spent in the emergency/intensive care wing. In fact, the expert admitted that his last shift in the ER came in June or July of 2005, when he was pulled in to aid with Hurricane Katrina victims.
Yeah, his lack of qualifications to offer "expert" testimony is interesting and all, but it got vastly more entertaining. During the 1980s, this guy worked in a bank in downtown Dallas. The expert was repeatedly asked questions regarding any periods of unemployment during this time, to which he responded that there may have been periods in-between jobs, or when he moved back home. Finally, the expert admitted that he had been arrested for DUI, and that this may have been the reason that he lost his job in Dallas.
However, it then got really good: the guy was asked point blank about a conviction for cocaine possession, at which point he admitted he was incarcerated for seven months during the late-1980s for such charges. He had been convicted of cocaine possession and several counts of theft (which were committed in an attempt to support his habit) and jailed in the state pen, followed by a lengthy probation period.
Notably, plaintiffs’ counsel was not aware of any of the foregoing, and a break was taken at which time I'm sure this was all discussed in detail.
The expert then testified that the Board of Nursing was aware of this conviction, and that when he sought his nursing license he was brought before the Board to discuss same. According to the witness, the Board chalked this up as a youthful indiscretion (I find that slightly hard to believe), and granted his license unencumbered. Notably, he was only "pretty sure" that these convictions were disclosed to his previous and current nursing employers.
And it kept piling on: the guy also maintains a website that he professed ignorance as to the workings of. He testified that a "foreigner" put the website together, with his only input being some internet sites from which various information was culled. Notably the website greatly exaggerates the services he offers, his experience, and oversteps the bounds for what sort of opinions he would be permitted to offer as a nurse-care expert (including providing various legal opinions) .
The expert also uses a newsletter to advertise his services, which was available online during his deposition (thanks, wireless connection!), but has since been removed (unsurprisingly). This newsletter is rife with statements that, at minimum, look bad regarding the valuation of potential cases for potential monetary damages. I don't think jurors really want to know that the experts are looking at cases involving maimings, loss of limbs, and death as potential windfalls of money.
I've spared many details, but this guy was simply destroyed. But really, this guy brought it on himself, and he really shouldn't have tried to hide his criminal history, or tried to sell himself as an expert. But it was one hell of a fun deposition.
posted by Juggernaut at
3:40 PM
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