Experts in Civil Cases: An Inside View (Law and Society (New York, N.Y.).)

Prichard penetrates the hidden regions of product liability disputes, most of which are settled through negotiation. The most decisive negotiation in product cases occurs between scientific experts and attorneys on the same side. Each must manage their own conflicting professional interests. By the time the general public sees it, such cases have undergone countless revisions, radical shifts in nature, and corresponding shifts in the roles and relative dominance of the players. There is no separating the facts of the case from the nuanced social relations of the attorneys and experts putting it together. Prichard's work provides fresh evidence that science and law are antagonistic yet mutually constituting institutions. Prichard (sociology, West Virginia U.) examines the interactions of forensic engineers and attorneys in product liability cases involving serious injury and death. The author explores the techniques, complex working relations, and intra-side conflicts that occur between attorneys and engineering experts as they evaluate evidence and account for "what happened" in particular accidents. The study is based on the author's experience of working with attorneys and experts as a paralegal in a private law firm for a year; data gathered during a second year interviewing plaintiff attorneys, defense attorneys, and forensic engineers outside the firm; and case files. The study reveals "the remarkable extent to which attorneys and engineers co-produce the very professional boundaries thought to separate them." Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR Contents......Page 8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 10 INTRODUCTION......Page 12 CHAPTER 1 THE FIRM......Page 20 MY ROLE AT WILSON......Page 23 ROLES OF EXPERTS......Page 27 CHAPTER 2 CONFLICTS......Page 36 ENGINEER’S PERSPECTIVE......Page 49 ATTORNEY’S PERSPECTIVE......Page 71 CHAPTER 3 EVALUATING CASES: PLAINTIFF VERSUS DEFENSE......Page 102 EXPERTS IN PLAINTIFF EVALUATIONS......Page 106 EXPERTS IN DEFENSE EVALUATIONS......Page 132 PICKING TRIAL EXPERTS, PLAINTIFF STYLE......Page 138 PREPARING CASES, DEFENSE STYLE......Page 141 PLAINTIFF TRIAL EXPERT ROLES......Page 154 DEFENSE TRIAL EXPERT ROLES......Page 163 PICKING DEFENSE TRIAL EXPERTS......Page 165 IN-HOUSE AND OUT-HOUSE: MAKING “THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS”......Page 185 CONCLUSION......Page 194 REFERENCES......Page 198 I......Page 200 W......Page 201 Annotation Prichard penetrates the hidden regions of product liability disputes, most of which are settled through negotiation. The most decisive negotiation in product cases occurs between scientific experts and attorneys on the same side. Each must manage their own conflicting professional interests. By the time the general public sees it, such cases have undergone countless revisions, radical shifts in nature, and corresponding shifts in the roles and relative dominance of the players. There is no separating the facts of the case from the nuanced social relations of the attorneys and experts putting it together. Prichard?s work provides fresh evidence that science and law are antagonistic yetmutually constituting institutions Along the streets of Capital City, up stairs, through doors, behind receptionists and more doors, attorneys and engineers built product liability cases that shaped the future of American industry.