Mastering Expert Depositions and Ethical Best Practices

Brandon Schwartz | Schwartz Law Firm

Brandon is a cum laude graduate of William Mitchell College of Law; graduating in the top 10 students in his class following his Division I and professional hockey career. Brandon is admitted to practice in the States Courts of Arizona, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin and the Federal District Courts of Colorado, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as the United States Supreme Court. He has been published in Attorney At Law Magazine, by the Minnesota State Bar Association, by the American Bar Association and Michigan Bar Journal. Brandon was selected as a Minnesota Super Lawyer Rising Star and is a life-time member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum; fewer than 1% of U.S. lawyers are members.

Brandon is a Board Certified Civil Trial Law Specialist by the Minnesota State Bar Association and a Board Certified Civil Trial Law Advocate and Family Trial Law Advocate by the National Board of Civil Advocacy. Minnesota Monthly selected him as a Top Lawyer in Business Litigation for 2022. America’s Top 100 Attorneys presented him with a Lifetime Achievement award, the High Stakes Litigators award, and the Bet-The-Company Litigators award. Best Attorneys of America awarded him a Lifetime Membership. Brandon is also AV rated, the highest rating possible, by Martindale-Hubbell. Brandon also serves as a Board Member on the Minnesota Supreme Court Advisory Committee on the General Rules of Practice for the District Court, the Board of Legal Certification, and the Minnesota State Bar Association Foundation Board as a director and officer.

Veronica Finkelstein | Wilmington University School of Law

Veronica J. Finkelstein is a 2004 graduate, with honors, of the Emory University School of Law and 2001 graduate, with dual distinction and dual honors, of the Pennsylvania State University. Finkelstein currently works for the U.S. Department of Justice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as a Litigative Consultant. She is also a faculty member of the Wilmington University School of Law. At the DOJ, she has served as the Civil Division Training Officer, Paralegal Supervisor for the civil division, and Senior Litigation Counsel.

At the Department of Justice, Finkelstein tried numerous cases to defense verdicts, including in tort, employment law, and medical malpractice cases. In addition to this defensive work, Finkelstein investigated and prosecuted affirmative fraud claims, including qui tam actions. She also handled criminal child exploitation cases. She has taught at the National Advocacy Center on ethics, appellate advocacy, legal writing, and trial practice. In 2014, she was awarded the Executive Office of United States Attorneys Director’s Award for Superior Performance as a Civil Assistant United States Attorney. Prior to her government service, Finkelstein clerked for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and was an associate at Duane Morris, LLP and Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman, PC.

In addition to teaching at Wilmington Law, Finkelstein teaches at Drexel Law and Emory Law. In the past she has also taught at Rutgers Law. At these law schools she teaches a variety of courses including Appellate Advocacy, Trial Advocacy, Evidence, Advanced Evidence, Deposition Skills, Professional Responsibility, Sales, Criminal Law, Health Care Fraud, Civil Procedure, Legal Writing, and Corrections Law. She has repeatedly been named “Adjunct Professor of the Year” at Rutgers Law and won the university-wide Adjunct Award for Teaching Excellence at Drexel University in 2016.

Session I – Expert Depositions: Strategic tactics and legal best practices | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

• Understanding the strategic importance of expert depositions
  • Determining when and why to depose an expert witness
  • Balancing the benefits and potential risks
• Navigating federal rules for expert depositions
  • Compliance with notice and scheduling requirements
  • Effective coordination with opposing counsel and the expert
• Preparation Essentials
  • Reviewing critical materials and developing focused questions
  • Anticipating objections and crafting counter-strategies
• Questioning techniques
  • Employing effective methods to challenge the expert’s testimony
  • Addressing the expert’s methodology and conclusions
• Deposition of hybrid witnesses
  • Managing the complexities of deposing witnesses who serve both as fact witnesses and experts
  • Ensuring adherence to legal standards
• Professional practice insights
  • Emphasizing key strategies for successful depositions
  • Maintaining adherence to legal and moral standards throughout the process

Break | 2:00 pm – 2:10 pm

Session II – Avoiding Ethical Violations when Preparing, Taking, and  Defending Depositions| 2:10pm – 3:10pm

• How the rules of professional conduct condition deposition preparation and conduct
• How to ethically prepare a witness while still defending your client’s litigation interests
• How to take and defend a deposition without increasing the litigation risk for your client
• How to handle the unique considerations that arise in online depositions