Discovery of Work Product Disclosed to a Testifying Expert Under the 1993 Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
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Authors
Mickus, Lee
Issue Date
1994
Volume
27
Issue
Type
Journal Article
Language
Keywords
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION|Expert witnesses have become central figures in modern federal trials. Nearly every case tried in the federal courts, and certainly every federal case in which significant dollar amounts are at issue, will feature the testimony of one or even several experts who are paid by one of the parties to form opinions about issues relating to the facts of the case.|The expert's opinions often constitute the single most important factor for the litigator in determining which of the possible theories of the case to advance. Consequently, an expert is arguably most useful to his proponent party when he can be brought up to speed quickly regarding the facts and issues of the particular litigation, facilitating prompt formulation of expert opinions for use by counsel in analyzing the various theories of the case, and integrating these opinions into counsel's trial strategy. One method of speeding the expert along the learning curve involves disclosing to the expert documents containing the lawyer's analysis of the case, such as legal memoranda, condensed or highlighted witness statements, correspondence, and other relevant background materials organized and selected by counsel. From this angle, disclosing work product documents to a testifying expert appears simply to constitute efficient preparation of a member of the litigation team, and so the documents should not lose their protected status on the basis of this disclosure...
Description
Citation
27 Creighton L. Rev. 773 (1993-1994)
Publisher
Creighton University School of Law