The Role of Expert Witnesses in Personal Injury Trials: What attorneys need to know

Mitchell Panter | Panter, Panter & Sampedro, P.A.

Mitchell Panter is a partner in the law firm of Panter, Panter & Sampedro, P.A., where he practices in the areas of personal injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, product liability and premises liability. Mr. Panter has tried cases and represented clients throughout the State of Florida. Mr. Panter has presented oral arguments in several State and Federal Appellate Courts and has appeared before the Florida Supreme Court. Mitchell Panter is Board Certified by the Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization and Education as a Specialist in Civil Trial Law and by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in Civil Trial Advocacy. Mr. Panter was a professor of paralegal studies at Miami Dade Community College. He has also lectured extensively on a variety of topics relating to personal injury, medical malpractice, trial practice and pretrial procedures.

Mr. Panter received his B.A. degree from the University of Michigan and his J.D. degree from the University of Miami. He attended Wagner College in Bregenz, Austria, while enrolled in a Junior Year Abroad Program. Mr. Panter is past president of The Pinecrest Business Association South Miami Kendall Bar Association and the B’Nai Brith Bench & Bar. Mr. Panter is also actively involved in the community, serving on several boards as a director and previously on the Board of Directors for Professional Bank. As the Managing Partner of Panter, Panter & Sampedro, P.A., Mr. Panter oversees the firm’s day-to-day practice with six attorneys and a staff of twenty.

Eric R. I. Cottle | K&L Gates LLP

Eric Cottle is an experienced trial attorney and litigation partner in the firm’s New York and Pittsburgh offices who focuses his practice in a variety of areas, including commercial disputes and the manufacturing and technology industries. Eric has extensive trial experience and has successfully argued cutting edge legal issues before various tribunals and courts in hearings and at trial with great success. He represents clients across the country in multiple jurisdictions and in high volume and high-stakes litigation. Along with litigating and arbitrating commercial disputes, consumer product defect claims, including the defense of personal injury/wrongful death actions involving various consumer products, complex industrial machinery and electrical equipment, and toxic tort claims, including the representation of companies in asbestos, silica, and lead pigmentation matters, Eric advises clients in several key areas, including managing risk and developing and implementing company-tailored solutions to complex legal issues that align with the client’s current and long term business objectives. Understanding that litigation is not the answer to every dispute, Eric works with his clients to resolve disputes through arbitration, mediation, or alternative dispute resolution techniques when they are an appropriate means of promoting the client’s business objectives.

Eric’s litigation and risk management experience extends to the industries of commercial and consumer products, industrial and commercial coatings, metal manufacturing and fabrications, heavy-duty industrial port machinery and off-shore products, energy and technology.

Prior to joining K&L Gates, Eric was a partner at a Pittsburgh-based law firm where he focused his practice on a wide range of commercial disputes and consumer litigation, including unfair competition, employment litigation, fraud and deceptive and misleading acts, class actions, multidistrict and multinational litigation, and products liability.

Prior to embarking on his legal career, Eric worked as an analyst for an asset based company that provided an alternative source of funding to new and growing companies and as an account executive in commercial lines for a major insurance carrier where he interpreted key provisions of insurance policies and provisions for commercial clients involving general commercial liability and construction defects.

Session I – Expert Witness Essentials: Unveiling their impact in personal injury trials | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

• Understanding the Role of Expert Witnesses | 1:00pm – 1:12pm
• Types of Expert Witnesses | 1:12pm – 1:24pm
• Qualifying and Selecting Expert Witnesses | 1:24pm – 1:36pm
• The Importance of Expert Testimony | 1:36pm – 1:48pm
• Challenges and Cross-Examination of Expert Witnesses | 1:48pm – 2:00pm

Break | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

Session II – Navigating Personal Injury Trials: Expert testimony, discovery, and demonstrative evidence | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

• The Daubert Trilogy | 2:10pm – 2:25pm
• Discovery and Deposition | 2:25pm – 2:40pm
• The Importance of Expert Testimony vs the Lay Opinion Witness | 2:40pm – 2:55pm
• Best Practices regarding the use of Demonstrative Evidence | 2:55pm – 3:10pm