Making the Most of a Slow Period

Expert witness work is unpredictable. That is a given. However, if cases seem to dry up, anxiety is natural.

A slowdown is actually an opportunity. Use the time strategically and you’ll emerge with a stronger practice.

Sharpen Your Online Presence

• Update your CV and post it.  Add recent experience, credentials, presentations, and memberships. Load the revised version everywhere it appears: directories, your website, professional profiles.
• Refresh your website with new content and showcase your expertise. Attorneys visit your site to assess your knowledge.
• Articles are the most powerful thing you can do! E.g., educate attorneys on med-legal issues, case studies, connect your specialty to common lawsuit that arise in your field. For example, these articles by suitably qualified doctors: Dementia (and the importance in probate, will contest and undue influence cases, and personal injujry brain injury cases.) Another is What is a Psych IME? which helps attorneys understand what their clients can expect going into an eval. It will also help plaintiffs and defense understand the scope of an exam and some standard practices.
• Your specialty might be pain medication changes after a motor vehicle accident, or standards of care in your specialty. Whatever it is, write about it in plain language now while you have the time.
• Articles can be reposted on LinkedIn, added as a dedicated LinkedIn article, or tapping this directory feature; many have a way to post your articles.
• Update your headshot and professional photos. Read more.
• Analyze your web traffic. Look for correlations between traffic spikes and incoming calls. Double down on your best lead sources — whether that’s a directory listing, Google Ads, or speaking engagements. Tools can include Google Analytics/Search Console (free,) dedicated services such as Web-Stat ($9.50/month,) or CrazyEgg ($288/year.) Ask your website or SEO consultant about good options.

Build Your Credentials

• Pursue forensic-focused CME/CE credits to stay current and sharpen your expertise.
• Explore board certification or credentialing programs in forensic specialties.
• Catch up on peer-reviewed journals. If bandwidth allows, collaborate with a colleague to co-author a publication.
• Read up on expert witness legal procedure — understanding the rules that govern your testimony makes you a better witness and a more attractive hire. Expert Institute has excellent legal writing about expert witness issues.
• Educate yourself about how to handle testimony. YouTube is great. My favorites are a guide about how to handle direct and cross-examination with demonstrations in real scenarios¹. I also watch true testimony² to see how others handle themselves. And then there’s the classic scene in My Cousin Vinny!³

Reach Out to the Legal Community

• Join professional organizations relevant to your specialty.
• Attend local bar association events or attorney group meetings open to non-lawyers. Local Bar Associations in cities or counties often have this option.  (State Bar Associations, on the other hand are restricted to attorneys.)
• Pursue speaking engagements at legal or medical conferences — visibility builds referrals. If you need the practice, consider lower hanging fruit like Grand Rounds or speaking to the public or a particular community.
• Stay current on litigation trends. Attorneys work in the world of today’s lawsuits; knowing what cases are active (asbestos, opioid prescribing, medical product liability in cobalt poisoning joint cases, sexual harassment) makes you a more relevant expert.

Reach Out to the Forensic Community

Colleagues are great referral sources. Organizations that put you in touch with other Expert Witnesses can provide a support community, mentorship opportunities and education about the medical-legal field.  Check out the Forensic Expert Witness Association (FEWA,) American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS,) and the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL.) Organizations like AAFS have specialty-centric committees.

Strengthen Your Business Operations

The goal is Net. While getting cases drives gross, your backend operations drives Net AND reputation with attorneys. Leverage the tools in your practice.

• Client experience: How do attorneys perceive working with you? Do you respond quickly to inquiries? Is your staff trained in the differences between clinical and forensic practice? Or drill down: is your voicemail professional? Does your email signature include your credentials and contact information? Do you have a dedicated email address?
• Staffing: Do you need to add, reduce, or reorganize support staff? Are billing and administrative tasks being handled efficiently? Put systems in place to improve client experience: how your phone is answered, file and document management by staff, order of operations for providing attorneys with your CV and other documents. I have personal experience where an expert’s “standard” email had typos!
• Take stock of billable hours and receivables. Factor in your own time spent on non-billable tasks.
• Ask your bookkeeper to run a Profit and Loss so you can review your overhead and the costs that generate cases like marketing costs; look for seasonal trends, return on investment for directory listings or time spent on LinkedIn. Collect, analyze and use the data at your disposal.
• Software: Consider upgrading tools you’ve been putting off — QuickBooks for finances, task management software, or Adobe Acrobat Pro for handling large volumes of electronic records, get comfortable with PDF editing tools used in med-legal work.
• Hardware: Is it time for a laptop, better monitor, upgraded operating system, faster and more powerful computer, larger storage capacity (e.g. 2 TB vs. your old 520GB.) Research a higher-capacity printer, set up cloud storage and back-ups consistent with your computer operating system.

A quiet period is never wasted time — it’s a chance to build the foundation that keeps your practice strong when things pick up again.

Footnotes

1. Expert Witnesses Need to Actively Listen, with examples of experts handling some thorny examination. SEAK.

2. Shawn Grate trial, taped testimony from veteran forensic psychologist, John Matthew Fabian, PsyD, JD, ABPP.

3. Marisa Tomei gives the most hysterical expert testimony on film and earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in My Cousin Vinny. Counsel regreted his patronizing and sexist line of questioning.