March 2008 Archives
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently overturned the insider trading conviction of former Qwest Communications International Inc. CEO Joseph Nacchio. The case will be sent back to be tried again in front of a new judge. In the decision, the three-judge panel held that the District Court improperly excluded testimony from Nacchio's expert witness. The expert, a finance and law professor, was planning on presenting a study demonstrating that Nacchio's trading patterns were inconsistent with insider trading.
1. Highly intelligent - Most expert witnesses are professionals, such as doctors, chartered accountants or scientists.
2. Inquisitive and thorough - Expert witnesses need an eye for detail. Incomplete, vague, or careless testimony will be picked apart by a skilled lawyer.
3. Good communicator - Experts must explain technical data and jargon to a wider audience of people who might not understand it.
4. Concentration and focus - A complex civil lawsuit can drag on for years and an expert's testimony can last days.
5. Patience and discipline - Experts must often repeat themselves in court so they must be prepared to constantly go back over the same testimony.
The jury continues to deliberate the fate of a prominent pathology expert witness and former Allegheny County Coroner. Dr. Cyril Wecht is accused of using former staff at the Coroner's Office to further his private practice as an expert witness. Prosecutors also accuse Dr. Wecht of trading unclaimed bodies, which he had authority over as Coroner, for private laboratory space at a nearby university.
WTAE TV 4 is following the deliberations here.
Expert witness referral firms, in presenting a computer forensics expert, should already have these things in mind when making the referral.
Head to http://www.roundtablegroup.com/conferences/index.cfm for more information.
More information on the conference can be found here.
We would love to meet you. Look for our both!
Something extraordinary happened this week in
Chicago: Yo Yo Ma performed three of Bach's Cello Suites to a sold out
audience. It was an awesome experience, watching one of the world's
greatest living musicians performing the non plus ultra of his art. What
is the key to Ma's artistry, and what can law firm
partners learn from him and the world's leading musical artists?
Focus and discipline.
Tony Schwartz wrote about this topic in his recent Harvard Business Review article, "Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time" and also in his fantastic booked co-authored with Jim Loehr, the Power of Full Engagement. The take away for world-class law firm partners: DO NOT MULTI TASK. If you are focused on, say, reviewing documents for an upcoming deposition, focus ONLY on reviewing the documents. Do not take calls. Do not check e-mails. Even the mere act of taking 5 seconds to check your e-mail creates neural activity that decreases productivity. A truly professional law firm partner owes it to her clients, to the cause of justice, to be focused and disciplined when working on the matter. Yo Yo Ma was completely and totally focused and in the present, performing the pieces with skill, grace, and passion, just as the law firm partner does in her daily work.
Jim Loehr is Chairman, CEO and Co-founder of the Human Performance Institute. Check out the Human Performance Institute's free "Self Profile" performance analysis for more information.
Russ. W. Rosenzweig
Yesterday's blog
discussed the idea of a "mantra," a 1-3 sentence "elevator
pitch" about who you are, and how do you crisply and succinctly describe
your expertise. Something that is practiced, rehearsed, mastered.
As a law firm partner,
you are expected to grow the practice, to bring in more clients, to build
business development routines. To accomplish this, the firm must
"know who it is," just like yesterday's mantra exercise was about you
knowing who you are. So here we broaden the mantra, to describe your
practice or firm and how it is different from others.
Geoffrey Moore, in his seminal book "Crossing the Chasm," has
an "elevator pitch framework" that I especially like. I have
used this framework to craft Round Table Group's vision for connecting lawyers
with expert witnesses in all fields. I also use this framework to teach
expert witnesses and business students in my New Entrepreneurs' Program class
at the University of Chicago's Graham School and in my Business Frameworks
class at the IIT Institute of Design. The framework looks like this:
For (target customers)
Who are dissatisfied with (the current market alternative)
Our product/service is a (product category)
That provides (key problem-solving
capability)
Unlike (product
alternative)
We have assembled (key
product features)
Round Table Group's idea statement might be as follows, as
an example:
For litigators
Who are dissatisfied
with the current alternatives to finding expert witnesses: doing it themselves
(too time consuming and inefficient), and outsourcing (few truly professional
firms who can be counted on to deliver quality experts)
Round Table Group is
an expert witness referral firm...
... That connects
litigators with expert witnesses in all fields
Unlike the
traditional, old fashioned, and unreliable methods for finding expert witnesses
We have assembled a team of professionals who locate, assess, and deliver the right expert witness at the right time by using rigorous methodologies, relationships with numerous firms, and proprietary databases.
Give it a try, and write a 6-sentence elevator pitch at this deeper level to describe how your practice or firm differs from the others; why you are uniquely qualified, above all others, or serve the cause of justice by making your expertise available to clients.
Russ W. Rosenzweig
Don't sell off that sailboat or Corvette yet though. Many firms are seeing opportunities in the area of subprime litigation and in representing businesses in legal investigations into foreign investments. However, because of this, there could be a shortfall of qualified expert witnesses to help defend subprime and impaired credit lenders. Expert witness referral firms are stocking up, but consider moving quickly if you are getting in to such litigation and need an expert in this field.
Russ W. Rosenzweig
It is my pleasure to introduce Round Table Group CEO Russ Rosenzweig, who will be regularly sharing his extensive expert witness referral experience and legal business knowledge with law firm partners across the country on a recurring basis.
Russ W. Rosenzweig is the CEO and co-founder of Round Table
Group. Prior to joining Round Table, Mr. Rosenzweig served as a senior
consultant for the management consulting practice of PriceWaterhouseCoopers in
Chicago. Mr. Rosenzweig was previously the youngest corporate finance analyst
at Alpha Capital Venture Partners, a venture capital firm in Chicago, where he
focused on providing debt and equity financing to middle market public and
private companies.
Mr.
Rosenzweig holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and mathematical
methods in the social sciences from Northwestern University and an MBA from the
University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He also holds a Certificate
in Liberal Arts from the University of Chicago and a Certificate des Etudes
from the University of Paris (Sorbonne).
At
Round Table Group Mr. Rosenzweig is an advisor to law firms on matters related
to location, selection, and retention of experts. He also advises fast-growing
private companies on location and selection of advisory board members. The firm
maintains a network of 95,000 university professors and industry experts around
the world.
An
authority on innovation and strategy within larger firms, Mr. Rosenzweig co-created
the "Internal Venture Marketplace" framework with Professor Harry
Davis of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and is the
co-author, with Professor Davis, of an article on the topic published in
"The Virtual Strategist," an academic journal. He has advised BP,
ExxonMobil, Lockheed Martin, Motorola, Black & Decker, FMC Corporation, and
other companies on new-venture creation and on promoting entrepreneurship
internally. He has applied distance learning and web-based technologies to teach
entrepreneurial strategy to hundreds of managers around the world, including,
formerly, as Director of the Booz Allen & Hamilton Certificate Program in
Business Strategy.
Mr.
Rosenzweig serves on the board of advisors of several companies in the United
States, France, and the United Kingdom. He was the founder and former Managing
Director of Michigan & Oak Partners, a private equity and startup advisory
concern. He is an active "angel" and real estate investor.
Mr.
Rosenzweig's accomplishments have been profiled in the Wall Street Journal, New
York Times, Crain's Chicago Business, Fortune Magazine, the Chicago Tribune,
and in four business school case studies published by Stanford University. In
2007, Inc. Magazine named RTG for the fourth year in a row to the "Inc.
500" (now "Inc. 5000") list of the fastest growing private
companies in the US. Mr. Rosenzweig is regularly quoted in news articles as an
expert in entrepreneurship and business strategy. Recently, Crain's Chicago
Business named him a member of "The Internet 100," a select group of
influential executives, decision makers, financiers and idea people in the
Chicago business community.
John Torkelsen, a damages expert who made millions of
dollars as an expert witness in numerous business lawsuits, recently agreed to
plead guilty to perjury. He admitted that he lied about how he was paid in a
securities class-action case. Torkelsen apparently entered into secret
fee-shifting deals with several law firms. Because of this, those firms were
able avoid millions in fees. He was also accused of submitting inflated bills
only in successful cases. As such, he was essentially working on a contingent
fee basis.
See the Law.com story here.
Round Table Group, Inc., the premier expert witness referral firm is traveling to fours cities this coming March, 2008. As part of this travel schedule Round Table Group's Director of Business Development Steve Schott will acquaint lawyers with RTG's expert witness referral services during his upcoming visit to Orange County, CA, on March 19-20, 2008.
"As a lawyer who practiced in Irvine and Newport Beach for over 12 years, I continue to be impressed with the quality and growth of the Orange County legal community. Round Table Group's ability to perform a customized search for experts in all fields and disciplines is a perfect match for this vibrant community. We are excited to have this chance to meet with Orange County lawyers, and I invite any attorney interested in learning more about our complimentary expert search service to contact me to schedule a brief introductory meeting," says Schott.
Those interested in meeting with Steve during his trip or to learn more about RTG's services can reach us via phone at 214-233-9470 or e-mail at sschott@roundtablegroup.com.
Round Table Group's Complete March, 2008 Travel Schedule
Orange County, California (March 19-20)
Minneapolis, Minnesota (March 20)
Cleveland, Ohio (March 26)
In addition to these cities, Round Table Group is always available for in-person presentations in Baltimore, Maryland; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas and Washington, DC. If you would like to learn more about Round Table Group's Service or you have a current expert witness need please contact Chris Armstrong at 202-595-2000 Ext 276 or email at carmstrong@roundtablegroup.com.
About Round Table Group
Round Table Group connects attorneys with expert witnesses in all fields. Our team uses rigorous methodologies, relationships with numerous professional services and consulting firms, and our proprietary databases of over 95,000 people worldwide to quickly find unbiased expert witnesses and consultants. We locate, assess, and deliver the right expert witness at the right time to help make our clients more successful.