In this one-hour presentation, Christine Funk will teach you the fundamentals of working with expert witnesses from start to finish. Ms. Funk will show you effective strategies for choosing your expert, including how to determine what type of expert is best for your case. She will explain how to make agreements with your experts on the scope of their work and how they will be paid. You will learn where you can search for quality experts and how to investigate their training and expertise. After you have retained an expert, how do you provide them with the information they need on your case? This presentation will explain how to obtain lab and investigative reports and how to ensure that your expert does a thorough analysis. Once you are confident with choosing your expert, you can apply the same skills to determining the legitimacy of the government's expert and their testimony.
Christine Funk currently serves as General Counsel for the Department of Forensic Sciences. She was formerly a member of the Trial Team in the Office of the Public Defender for the State of Minnesota, where she served since 1994. Christine got her first DNA case in 1995. Not being a scientist by training, she struggled to understand the DNA evidence in that and subsequent cases. Eventually, she managed to translate the scientific language into something she could understand. Since then, she has worked towards making scientific evidence understandable to lawyers and lay people everywhere. Christine is a frequent lecturer on DNA evidence as well as the impact of science on criminal lawyers. She serves on the Technical Working Group for DNA for Defense Attorneys, is a member of the Forensic Laboratory Advisory Board in Minnesota, and is on the Board of the Minnesota Innocence Project. Christine is also an adjunct professor at William Mitchell College of Law, where she teaches Criminal Law, Advanced Trial Advocacy, and Wrongful Convictions.
If you intend to take a course for CLE credit, please make sure your state is listed in the "Accreditation" section to the upper right of the program description. Accreditation displayed is unique to the purchased program format (live conference, live webcast, on demand, podcast). Credit totals listed for live conferences are the maximum credits available. Credits issued will be based upon actual time in attendance. Credit totals for other formats are for complete programs. Partial credit is not available for any online or downloadable format.
West LegalEdcenter will not provide accreditation for states not listed.
This product is intended for individual use by the named purchaser. Group viewings for online programs may be arranged for five or more attorneys within the same organization prior to viewing by emailing west.wlec-sales@thomson.com.
