0:00

So let's, let's talk a a little bit.

0:03

We, we've mentioned it, um,

0:05

but let's talk a little bit about the, the scare tactics

0:07

that you can, um, expect, um, as you go

0:12

through this process, and you'll start to encounter them.

0:14

Typically, you know, during a deposition,

0:16

and I'm gonna stress this again, that you need to feel

0:21

confident and know what's gonna happen when you walk into,

0:25

uh, that deposition room,

0:27

and I tell, especially new, uh, physicians that I'm working

0:31

with, that if you don't feel like you understand the

0:35

process, you don't feel like you're confident in what's

0:38

going on, or you're nervous about going in

0:40

and having a deposition, then you need

0:42

to spend more time ask that attorney to work with you.

0:45

So even new physicians that have never given a deposition

0:48

before, that have hired as an expert witness, um,

0:52

feel comfortable, I get them to get them to the point

0:55

that when they walk into that room to be deposed,

0:59

that they are comfortable

1:01

with the setting, with the process.

1:03

They know who's gonna be in there.

1:05

They know if there's gonna be a camera on them.

1:07

Some, sometimes we do video

1:08

depositions for different reasons.

1:11

Um, so they're aware of that,

1:13

and they, so they understand the setup even though

1:15

they've never been in there before.

1:17

I will walk them through the entire process so

1:20

that when they go in, they can do what I need them

1:23

to do in that case.

1:25

So understand that the opposing attorney, their job,

1:30

and what they're looking to do is to undermine you

1:34

and your opinions in any way they can.

1:38

And that's what you have to be looking out for.

1:42

So they're going to be trying to chip away, uh, you know,

1:46

can I get them to just alter their opinion a little bit

1:48

or can I get them to admit that they don't know,

1:52

or that they, they don't,

1:53

they're not really an expert in this area.

1:56

And so what I tell my experts is, look, this isn't the time

2:00

for you to be shy and and at all.

2:03

And yes, humility is great,

2:06

but you also need to be assertive

2:07

and you're advocating for yourself.

2:10

So a lot of times,

2:12

and Dave kind of, you know, touched on this, yeah,

2:16

you've got a, a lane, right?

2:17

You've got a lane and you know,

2:19

this is your area of expertise.

2:21

But also understand that in medicine, many areas

2:25

of medicine, cross specialties,

2:27

and you can be expert witnesses, uh, an expert witness

2:32

on, um, topics that may also, um, you know,

2:36

there may be several other specialties

2:38

that are also experts in the same subject matter.

2:41

What I would say, you know, use as an example

2:44

is coagulopathies or pulmonary embolism.

2:47

And oftentimes you as radiologists are asked

2:50

to look at slides or you read cases.

2:52

Yeah, okay, there's a PE here, that kind of thing.

2:55

Well, you know what? Hematologists can talk about this,

2:58

surgeons can talk about this.

3:00

So they'll come in and, and,

3:01

and it may be a case of, you know, pulmonary medicine,

3:05

and they may, you may say, yes, no, there's a,

3:08

there's a pe Well, doctor,

3:10

you're not a hematologist, are you?

3:12

Well, no. So you really can't, you know,

3:15

give evidence about, you know, the person's, uh, state and,

3:19

and what was going on with this.

3:20

And the answer I tell people is absolutely not.

3:23

You say that's not accurate at all.

3:25

I am an expert in this area. Uh, I see this all the time.

3:29

I'm aware of what it looks like.

3:30

I went to medical school, I went through a residency, I'm,

3:33

so this is the time for you to not be shy

3:37

and to literally let the other side know.

3:42

Uh, no, I absolutely am an expert

3:44

because if you waffle on that,

3:46

well, they've got their opening.

3:48

So you don't wanna do that,

3:49

and you should be prepared for that, um, before going in.

3:53

And you're, the attorney you're working

3:55

with should absolutely, again, prepare you for

3:58

that line of questioning.

3:59

And it's almost like the schoolyard bully situation, right?

4:03

I mean, if you stand up to the bully, you know, they kind

4:06

of back off and, and move on pretty quickly.

4:08

So that's another, that's another, um,

4:11

issue, you know, that happens.

4:13

So they, they move on.

4:15

Um, we talked about this briefly before,

4:17

but they're, they'll come at you and, and try to scare you.

4:20

Well, doctor, do you, are you aware

4:22

that we can send your sworn testimony today for your board

4:25

to review your opinions?

4:27

Kinda like you're giving some outlandish crazy things.

4:31

You know, you're talking about

4:32

stuff you shouldn't be talking about.

4:33

You're giving the wrong answers.

4:35

They're just doing that to scare you.

4:37

And the best response is absolutely knock yourself out.

4:41

Please feel free to send it off to the board for review.

4:44

I've never, I get my experts get that question all the time.

4:47

It's never happened once.

4:49

So it's just one of the things they do for people

4:51

who aren't, uh, prepared.

4:54

The other thing is, um, you know, one

4:57

of the things I'll come after you with is, well, doctor,

4:59

have you reviewed this?

5:01

Whatever record it is here,

5:03

and, you know, the attorney you're working with may say,

5:05

that's, it's not relevant to your testimony.

5:08

You don't need to do that.

5:10

We don't need to spend our client's money

5:12

to have you review this when I've got another expert who's

5:15

talking about it, or it's not relevant to your opinions,

5:19

but they'll still try it.

5:20

And they're trying to get you to go, oh my gosh,

5:22

there's something I haven't seen, right?

5:26

Don't, don't buy into that.

5:29

And what I, what I tell my experts to do is

5:32

to calmly look at the lawyer

5:33

and say, I don't believe I've seen that.

5:37

Um, but if you would like me

5:38

to take a look at it, I'm happy to do so.

5:41

And then I'll let you know if it alters in my

5:42

opinions in any way.

5:44

So when you, you know, you're calm about it,

5:46

you understand this question may be coming at you

5:49

and you handle it simply by saying, sure, I'll take a look

5:51

and I'll let you know if it does change anything.

5:53

And then most of the time they'll go, okay, and move on.

5:56

Again, just another tactic.

5:59

Um, and then we get into this issue of bias, which, uh,

6:02

Dave talked with you about.

6:03

But let me give you my perspective again.

6:07

I work with phy radiologists, surgeons,

6:10

you name it all across the board.

6:12

And I use the same experts, um,

6:18

repeatedly if I, you know,

6:20

if they're good, they like what they do.

6:21

They're, they give solid opinions.

6:23

I enjoy working with them.

6:24

I'll call 'em, they know when I call

6:26

'em, it's a plaintiff's case.

6:27

They're well aware of it.

6:29

And so the defense attorney will come in at their deposition

6:32

and go, well, Dr you know, Smith, you knew, uh,

6:36

that this was a, you know, you're inherently biased.

6:38

Correct? And again, you calmly say to them,

6:43

um, or have the, have the, you know, you as have you

6:47

as the expert witness, say back to them, you know, I'm,

6:49

I'm pretty much aware that anytime I get a call from a

6:53

lawyer's office that there's a problem somewhere.

6:56

Um, but I deal with this all the time in medicine.

6:59

You know, I see death, the disease on, on a daily basis,

7:03

and it's my job.

7:05

It's my profession to sort out what's accurate,

7:09

not accurate, what's right, what's not right

7:11

to what's going on here, and give you my opinions.

7:14

So just because I'm contacted by one side

7:16

or another doesn't affect me.

7:18

Um, I realize I have a job here.

7:21

I do it objectively, and I'll give you my opinions

7:23

and I can back it up with my education, training experience,

7:27

the medical lit literature

7:30

or other relevant sources to that case.

7:33

So, again, they'll come at you, they'll try it.

7:38

Just, just, you know, don't let it ruffle you and move on.

7:43

Um, the next thing that you, you know, um,

7:47

we'll get, we talked a little bit about this.

7:50

They'll try to say to you, well, doctor, you would admit,

7:53

or you would agree with me,

7:55

that you're not an expert in, in whatever area.

7:58

Again, not a time to be shy.

8:00

And I really wanna stress this point, affirmatively and,

8:05

and assertively state

8:08

that you are an expert.

8:10

Now, if, if they ask you some crazy, you know,

8:14

off field question, sure, you know, I'm not an expert in,

8:17

you know, civil engineering,

8:18

but are you an expert in this aspect?

8:21

You know, pulmonary radiology or body imaging, whatever.

8:24

Yes, absolutely, I am. You bet.

8:27

And once they know that you're gonna stand firm on that,

8:32

again, the, they're, the vast majority of the time,

8:35

they're just gonna move on.

8:37

And finally, just a, a topic I'll, I I call my danger,

8:41

danger will Robinson, um, scenarios.

8:45

And that is that attorney,

8:47

the opposing counsel is sitting there in deposition

8:50

or a trial, and they're going

8:53

to just be pleasant and they're

8:54

Gonna be smiling.

8:55

Uh, you know, for the most part,

8:57

sometimes they can't get contentious in depositions,

9:00

but for the most part, they're gonna be wanting you just

9:04

to naturally agree with what they're saying.

9:07

And anytime the opposing attorney starts out

9:12

by saying to you nicely, you know, the doctor,

9:17

you would agree with me, wouldn't you?

9:20

Or doctor, isn't it true

9:23

that blank?

9:26

And I say, that's the, whoa, whoa, danger, danger.

9:28

Woe Robinson, for, for those of you old enough to understand

9:31

that reference, um, you say, whoa,

9:34

let me take a deep breath.

9:36

Let me take a sip of water.

9:38

Let me think about what they're asking me.

9:40

And sometimes the answer is yes,

9:42

but more often than not, the answer's gonna be, well, no,

9:45

I wouldn't necessarily agree with

9:46

that at all, and here's why.

9:48

But what they're trying to do is get you to answer

9:52

that first, well, doctor, you would agree with me,

9:55

and they, what, what they want you to say?

9:57

Oh, yes. And then they're gonna just quickly move on without

10:01

allowing you to explain.

10:02

So take a pause, whatever form, you know, this isn't a,

10:06

a race.

10:08

We wanna get your opinions out.

10:10

We wanna understand what you have to say.

10:12

So you say, well, no, I wouldn't necessarily agree

10:15

with that, and here's why.

10:17

And again, they may rephrase it, move on,

10:22

whatever the answer is, um,

10:24

or whatever, whatever's going on, they'll,

10:25

they'll not want you to, you know, dwell on that.

10:29

So just be aware of those little pitfalls

10:31

or those little scare tactics that they try

10:33

to come at you with.

10:35

Hold your ground, be solid, be friendly,

10:39

take it in stride, and move on.