Click here to read the full article from the Rochester Business Journal.

Faraci Lange is proud to sponsor the 2010 National Kidney Foundation Golf Classic.  Click here for more information about the event and to view the TV ad featuring Faraci Lange Partners Brian Zorn and Matthew Belanger.

4.  Strategy in Approaching Cross-Examination

Above we discussed the tools that you have available to use for cross-examination. But what distinguishes good from great cross-examiners is knowing which tools to use in which situations and not trying to always use all of them at once. There are a wide variety of strategies and tactics you can utilize in cross-examining an expert witness. We have set forth some of the common ones in the sections below. Remember, however, that you will rarely wish to use all of them with one witness.

Once you know all of the different areas you want to address in your cross-examination (the “chapters” described above) it is also important to arrange the chapters in the best possible order for effectiveness. Sometimes order is self-evident because one issue is a prerequisite of another and must be done first. However, you should always try to follow Prof. Irving Younger’s sage wisdom “Start on a high note, end on a high note”. This strategy is important for both the jury and the witness. If you score points with your first chapter you engage the jury and get their attention for what is to follow. Conversely, if your first efforts fall flat the jury is likely to begin to tune you out entirely. In addition, regardless of how many times an expert has testified all witnesses have some nerves going into cross-examination. You want to build on this insecurity and not allow them to gain confidence by deftly fending off your very first attack. Ending on a high note just makes sense, as the last part the jury hears and is likely to best recall is among the most effective attacks you have. More…

Suit against Spall Realty Corp. and two other companies goes to trial June 7, 2010

A Pittsford dentist and his wife are pursuing legal action against Spall Realty Corp. and two other companies for damages suffered due to mold infestation of their newly constructed home in the Settlers Green Development.

Neil Goldstein, D.D.S., and Patti Goldstein allege numerous causes of action in their complaint filed in New York State Supreme Court, including negligence against Spall and Brookwood Building Corp. Weyerhaeuser Co. also is named in the suit because most of the mold grew on the company’s Trus Joist product, which had mold inside of it at the time of installation. At trial, scheduled to begin June 7, 2010, the Goldsteins are seeking $100,000 in remediation expenses and discarded personal property, plus damages for illnesses caused by the mold, property use loss and property devaluation. More…

3.  Legal Basics

a.  Introduction

There are certain legal rules that apply to all cross-examinations and others that apply to expert cross-examinations in particular. We will briefly review these below.

 b.  Phrasing  and ordering your questions

Cross-examination is essentially a series of statements made in the form of questions to which you know the correct answer and can hurt the expert if he or she disagrees. You should rarely if ever ask a question in any other format when cross-examining a witness. For example:

Q: In treating patients you are required to document significant medical events, right?

Q: One of the reasons for that is to document what you have done so it is available for review where pertinent, correct?

Q: The other reason is to communicate information to other health providers involved in the patient’s care, is that right?

Q: In the course of your practice you read and interpret notes and reports every day, is that a fair statement? More…

2.  Pretrial Preparation

Tiger Woods is a great natural athlete. But he is probably the greatest golfer of all time not because of his natural gifts alone but because of the work ethic that he pairs with it. Similarly, no matter how good you are on your feet you will never be a great cross-examiner unless you work tirelessly to master all of the underlying facts and subject matter of the expertise of the witness.

 a.  Doing your homework

Today it is easier than ever to obtain knowledge thanks to the internet. Except for medical experts in medical malpractice actions in state court actions we are provided with the identity of the expert witness to be called by the opposition. The internet enables us to find out almost everything this person has done in a professional capacity including articles written and positions attained. The internet also provides us with countless options for educational materials on virtually any area of medicine, science or engineering and typically on multiple levels from basic to highly advanced. As trial lawyers we must take advantage of these tools to learn everything we can within the time frame we have for preparation so that we can adequately test the opinions of opposing experts. More…

1.  Introduction

Cross-examining an expert witness is one of the most challenging and exciting things we do as trial lawyers. Nothing is more rewarding than to sit down after an effective examination with the feeling that you have neutralized the opposing expert and by doing so greatly helped your case. But in order to obtain that level of satisfaction there is much work to do in preparation and developing an effective strategy.

In analyzing the challenge we must be honest with ourselves that no matter how smart we are or how much we study we are not going to be able to match the expert’s level of knowledge in his or her field of expertise. But that does not mean we are not going to try to educate ourselves to the maximum extent possible in the narrow area of medicine, engineering or whatever the specialty is regarding the relevant scientific topic.   For medical witnesses we can read all of the most relevant medical literature articles on the narrow area involved in the case as well as obtain background knowledge from textbooks to help us understand those articles. We also have our own experts to help us understand complex scientific topics. Using these resources we can prepare ourselves sufficiently to attack the weak points underpinning an expert’s opinion. More…

The American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC) has selected Elizabeth K. Zorn of Faraci Lange LLP as its 2010 Member of the Year.

Zorn, a legal nurse consultant at Faraci Lange, has been an AALNC member for more than 15 years and recently began a three-year term on its board of directors. In 2006, Zorn started the LNCExchange, a Yahoo Group for legal nurse consultants and other professionals who work in medical legal litigation. Today, the LNCExchange has more than 1,350 members nationwide and generates about 600 posts per month – serving as a unique networking and educational resource for legal nurse consultants across the country.

A recognized authority in her field, Elizabeth Zorn wrote a chapter about a legal nurse consultant’s role in a law firm for the AALNC core textbook, “Legal Nurse Consulting: Principles and Practice.” She also has contributed two modules to the organization’s online course and has published an article about the LNCExchange in the Journal of Legal Nurse Consulting.

A registered nurse, Elizabeth Zorn resides in the town of Victor, N.Y.

Katrina L. Connelly has joined the law firm of Faraci Lange LLP (www.faraci.com) as a marketing and administrative assistant.

In her new role, Connelly is involved in all aspects of the firm’s marketing efforts, including advertising, public relations and the Web site, and she assists in running the business operation. She previously served as a marketing and licensing coordinator at 4Kids Entertainment in New York City.

Connelly earned her bachelor’s degree in Advertising and Marketing Communications from the Fashion Institute of Technology. She is a resident of Brockport, N.Y.

VI.  Hardware: What You Need If The Court Doesn’t Have It

 According to ABA surveys, court systems are not rushing to equip courtrooms with the hardware needed to use new technological advances like trial presentation software. Many county courthouses in larger metropolitan areas may provide one or two “Courtrooms of the Future” in a building housing dozens of courtrooms, but by and large if you want to use this technology you will need to bring it in yourself.

What you need is a laptop computer loaded with the trial presentation software and all of your data for the trial, an LCD projector, a portable screen and portable speakers. None of these items are ridiculously expensive anymore as LCD projector prices have come way down. When my firm first purchased one ten years ago it cost $6,000. When we purchased another one last year it projected an image more than ten times brighter and cost less than $1,200. If you are planning on using a lot of video you may also want to purchase a portable hard drive to store it so you do not overwhelm the hard drive on your laptop. These devices have also come down in price significantly and can be purchased for under $100. Power strips and extension cords are also a must as most courtrooms were not designed with this technology in mind and electrical outlets are usually not plentiful. Since furniture in courtrooms is also usually sparse and rarely movable, a small portable table to set up on is also very helpful. More…