Do You Have All Your Ducks (Experts) in A Row?
By Katherine L. Gallo and Christopher E. Cobey
The Docket – San Mateo County Bar Association, November/December 1999

Code of sets forth the requirements for disclosing experts. However, many civil practitioners are not taking Civil Procedure Section 2034 this statute seriously enough and can get caught at trial with limitations on their expert's testimony or with no experts at all. Here are some typical scenarios that we have encountered:

Scenario #1: It is the week before you have to disclose experts and you realize that you haven't retained anybody. You frantically talk to other attorneys in the office, make a series of phone calls to fellow lawyers and even possibly do a jury verdict check. After giving the matter a few hours of attention you compile a list of potential experts. You call the potential expertand speak to her for ten minutes. After giving her a thumbnail sketch of the case, she agrees to become your retained expert. You advise the expert you will contact her again in a couple of weeks and that you will be forwarding some material to her. You then prepare and serve your expert disclosure.

• Read full article (pdf)

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