How Expert Witnesses Can Support Your Strategy: Drafting Deposition, Direct, and Cross-Examination Questions
Written by: Chandler Hiller, CPA
Litigation attorneys are master strategists. But even the best legal minds recognize the value of specialized financial expertise, particularly in complex financial forensic cases. At Cogence Group, we bring clarity to the financial aspects of a case through careful analysis and well-structured support.
With over 30 years of experience in financial forensics and business valuation, our team regularly collaborates with attorneys to draft targeted and effective deposition, direct, and cross-examination questions. Here’s how we bring clarity, precision, and professionalism to each phase of trial preparation:
I. Laying the Foundation: Understanding the Financial Landscape
Before any questions are drafted, we work closely with counsel to understand what’s driving the case from a financial perspective. Is it a contract dispute, tort, or business interruption claim? Are the alleged damages based on lost profits, lost earning capacity, or diminution in value? These distinctions shape the scope of our analysis and the types of financial questions that need to be asked.
We also help ensure the financial issues are clearly defined and supported by the available documentation. This foundational context enables us to tailor our involvement in a way that supports a well-thought-through and reliable analysis.
Early collaboration helps avoid missteps and ensures the financial inquiry aligns with the case’s core accounting and damages issues, whether helping defendant’s or plaintiff’s counsel.
II. Deposition Preparation: Asking the Right Questions of the Right People
At Cogence Group, we approach deposition preparation as both an investigative and analytical exercise. When key individuals are deposed, fact or expert, we help frame the discussion like a management interview by gathering insight into financial performance, mitigation efforts, and key events that may impact damages.
When it comes to opposing experts, we assist in developing questions that attempt to thoroughly evaluate their methodology, assumptions, and sources of information. Our focus is on clarity and completeness, ensuring relevant areas impacting their analysis are addressed and any gaps or inconsistencies are identified.
III. Direct Examination: Telling a Clear, Credible Story
Direct examination is where expert witnesses explain their analysis and conclusions to the trier of fact. We work closely with attorneys to draft questions that help guide a logical and understandable presentation of our expert’s qualifications, assignment, scope, methodology, completed analysis, and findings.
Helping to draft our direct gives us an opportunity to tell the trier of fact what we analyzed, explain why we approached our analysis the way we did, and how our opinions flow from that analysis. We aim to ensure the testimony is understandable and informative, without overstating or oversimplifying. The result is hopefully a direct examination that is clear and rooted in sound financial reasoning by helping to establish the expert’s credibility and effectively communicating complex financial concepts. When appropriate, we assist counsel by supporting our direct testimony with simple exhibits or demonstrative aids to enhance understanding.
This approach not only informs but also engages the judge and/or jury, making complex financial issues more relatable and understandable.
IV. Cross Examination Strategy: Targeting Key Areas with Precision
Cross-examination of the opposing expert requires careful attention to the details of their analysis, methodology, approach, and report. We assist in drafting objective, focused questions that are designed to test the appropriateness of the opposing expert’s approach, errors in the analysis, and overall completeness of the analysis and opinions offered.
Our goal is to help attorneys ask the right questions; those that uncover meaningful information, expose weaknesses in the other side’s case, and highlight areas where further scrutiny may be warranted. By focusing on these key points, we can bring our unique expertise to the overall case strategy from early on in the case, all the way through the trial.
V. Supporting the Process with Objectivity and Clarity
At Cogence Group, our role is to remain unbiased and ensure that our work and the questions we help develop are grounded in objective analysis. Whether supporting a deposition, direct examination, or reviewing an opposing expert’s report, we approach each task with purpose and integrity.
Our involvement helps ensure that financial questions are well-informed, technically sound, and tailored to the facts of the case. We’re here to bring clarity to complex issues; nothing more, nothing less.
If you're preparing for trial and need a financial expert who values integrity, responsiveness, and professionalism, please reach out to us! We’re here to support your team with all the experience we bring to a case.