The 2020 FEWA National Conference was a huge success among FEWA members and the expert witness community. Experts gained valuable insight on driving their expert witness practice, presenting relevant and professional testimony, and had the opportunity to network with other members and guests of the FEWA community, both in-person and live stream.

Thank you to our speakers, sponsors, and FEWA National Conference Planning Committee who contributed their valuable time, knowledge, and support to make this year’s conference a success!

Did you attend the FEWA National Conference? Conference attendees earned up to 12.75 educational credits towards the Certified Forensic Litigation Consultant (CFLC Credential).

FEWA Professional and Professional Consulting members are eligible to apply for the CFLC. Do you qualify for the CFLC? Learn more about the application requirements.

James Jacobs has more than three decades of experience as a resource geologist and environmental scientist, working on a wide variety of cases. He has provided testimony or depositions for almost two dozen cases since 1990. Cases relate to contracting, public agencies, drainage, drilling, field safety issues, and toxic environments. He has also worked on legal issues related to oil, gas, coal, mineral, and water valuation or remediation. Read more about James below. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take lives, courts have been cautious about protecting trial participants from the risk of infection. Many trials have been delayed. When a criminal defendant is detained while awaiting trial, however, judges must weigh the defendant’s right to a speedy trial against the dangers of holding a trial.

Recently, I was speaking with a plaintiff’s lawyer whom I like and respect about the potential impacts of COVID-19 on the concept of a reasonably prudent person—something we have written about before. He suggested to me that an even bigger impact—not necessarily tied solely to COVID but certainly exacerbated by it—could be with respect to jurors’ willingness to listen to and believe scientific testimony.

Their expertise becomes important in business cases that have really important implications. Due to this, there is a drastic increase in the number of SEO expert witnesses that offer their services to courts from around the world.

When a real estate appraiser is called to testify in a court, it could be as one of two types of witnesses. If you are called to testify as an appraiser, it’s important to determine at the time of the request which of the two types you will be: fact witness or expert witness. One has lower liability and responsibility, and the other has greater financial reward.

In this new era of remote work and physical distancing, large group, in-person professional networking events have been put on hold. The same is true for in-person, internal, in-company interactions that foster the development of meaningful connections and relationships.