This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognizing you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Read our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There\u2019s an old joke in which people in different professions are asked, \u201cWhat\u2019s two plus two?\u201d Whichever profession the joke teller dislikes the most is represented by someone who leans in and responds slyly, \u201cHow much would you like it to be?\u201d In one version, it\u2019s an economist. In many, it\u2019s a lawyer. In reality, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-161573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal_matters"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161573\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
One of the ethical rules laid out by the National Association of Forensic Economics, of which I\u2019m a member, is that forensic economists must either charge a flat fee or bill by the hour. Our compensation cannot depend on the outcome of the case.<\/p>\n
Therefore, I can\u2019t accept a bonus if my client wins or grant a discount if my client loses. I\u2019ll admit that no one has offered me a bonus, but I have been asked a few times to cut my fee after a loss.<\/p>\n
When I\u2019m hired, it\u2019s to perform a service, not to guarantee an outcome. I\u2019m not supposed to care who wins the case. I\u2019m supposed to get the numbers right.<\/p>\n
Years ago, a client owed me money for the expert report I\u2019d written, and he needed me to testify at trial. But he said he couldn\u2019t pay me until his client won a verdict or reached a settlement. I said I couldn\u2019t testify. My testimony would be tainted because I had a monetary stake in him winning. Testifying would effectively turn me into a contingency-fee expert. As it happened, the client lost his case, and I was never paid what was owed to me. Acting ethically can come with a cost.<\/p>\n
Conflicts of Interest<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe standard practice for expert witnesses is to check for conflicts before taking on a new case. An expert with a connection to one of the parties might not be able to do an objective analysis.<\/p>\n
When it comes to possible conflicts, my duty is to inform the attorney and let him or her make the call. So, when a case came my way years ago involving someone I knew, I told the attorney. I assumed it would be a conflict, but the attorney decided that because I was neither related to nor in business with her client, there was no conflict.<\/p>\n
Another time, an attorney contacted me about a case involving a local political controversy that I\u2019d commented on in social media. I felt that my personal opinion was irrelevant and that I could be objective, but I informed the attorney, and he responded by not hiring me. Sometimes it goes the other way. I\u2019ve worked on a few cases involving high-speed police pursuits, for both plaintiffs and defendants, despite having once written a newspaper article criticizing such pursuits on cost-benefit grounds. The attorneys in those cases were apparently untroubled by my article.<\/p>\n
Hired Gun<\/strong><\/h2>\nI\u2019ll work on any case so long as my services are appropriate. To people outside the legal profession, my willingness to work for anyone with a checkbook sometimes reads as a lack of ethics. Am I basically a mercenary? I guess so, but I see that as a guarantee of my ethics. It means that I have no agenda. As an \u201cequal-opportunity expert,\u201d I don\u2019t favor plaintiffs, defendants, individuals, corporations, or governments.<\/p>\n
The key ethical principle for me as a forensic economist is that I\u2019m not an advocate for my \u201dside\u201d in a case. I\u2019m an advocate for my numbers. My only agenda is to provide as objective an expert opinion as possible.<\/p>\n
The post Getting the Numbers Right<\/a> appeared first on Attorney at Law Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/attorneyatlawmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/black%400.5x.png?w=1080&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
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I\u2019ll work on any case so long as my services are appropriate. To people outside the legal profession, my willingness to work for anyone with a checkbook sometimes reads as a lack of ethics. Am I basically a mercenary? I guess so, but I see that as a guarantee of my ethics. It means that I have no agenda. As an \u201cequal-opportunity expert,\u201d I don\u2019t favor plaintiffs, defendants, individuals, corporations, or governments.<\/p>\n
The key ethical principle for me as a forensic economist is that I\u2019m not an advocate for my \u201dside\u201d in a case. I\u2019m an advocate for my numbers. My only agenda is to provide as objective an expert opinion as possible.<\/p>\n
The post Getting the Numbers Right<\/a> appeared first on Attorney at Law Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n