| Experts, sad to say, are not always honest about | | | | are in the U.S. and Canada. Not all sites listed are |
| their credentials, as several recent news items | | | | free, but the site clearly marks those that are |
| confirm. Knowing how to verify the background | | | | not. Among the listings: professional license |
| of an expert - whether yours or your opponent's | | | | registrations, corporate records, marriage notices, |
| - could prove critical to your case. | | | | UCC filings, deed registries, birth and death |
| In perhaps the most dramatic recent example, a | | | | records, lobbyist listings, physician disciplinary |
| New Orleans federal judge threw out a jury | | | | proceedings, and much more. |
| verdict in favor of pharmaceutical giant Merck | | | | Other sites that provide directories of public |
| & Co. after a cardiologist who testified for | | | | records and information include: |
| the defense in a Vioxx trial was found to have | | | | - Virtual Gumshoe at virtualgumshoe.com: A good |
| misrepresented his credentials. | | | | collection of Web resources for public records |
| A few weeks earlier in California, a man who | | | | research. |
| fraudulently passed himself off as a computer | | | | - Public Records Online Directory at [ Links to |
| forensics expert in two cases pleaded guilty to | | | | state and municipal sites, with an emphasis on real |
| federal perjury charges. In Toronto, a psychiatrist | | | | estate, tax and vital records sources. |
| had his license suspended after lying about his | | | | - Merlin Information Sources at merlindata.com |
| credentials while serving as an expert witness in | | | | industrylinks.html: Links to resources for finding |
| two trials. | | | | public records and public information. |
| These cases illustrate why it is crucial for trial | | | | - Black Book Online at blackbookonline.info: A free |
| lawyers to confirm that an expert is all he claims | | | | public records site targeted at private |
| to be. Vetting an expert's credentials should be a | | | | investigators, skip tracers, government |
| key step in your trial preparation. | | | | investigators and others. Good collection of links |
| Major legal research services provide many tools | | | | and descriptions. |
| for checking an expert's background, from public | | | | - BRB Publications at brbpub.com: provides a fairly |
| records databases to deposition banks. But these | | | | comprehensive, state-by-state list of free public |
| major services can be expensive to use and still | | | | records sites, as well as an index of national sites |
| leave bases uncovered. | | | | and another for Canada and U.S. territories. |
| At the same time, the Web harbors a variety of | | | | SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS |
| resources and tools that contain potentially | | | | Due to privacy concerns, it is difficult to find social |
| valuable information but that many lawyers | | | | security numbers on the Web these days. But |
| overlook in researching an expert's background. | | | | you can easily verify that a number is valid and |
| Yes, we all now know to check Google, but this | | | | belongs to a living person. Enter a number in The |
| article looks at some of the lesser-known - and | | | | SSN Validator at and it will tell you whether the |
| mostly free - research tools you may be | | | | number has been issued, in which state it was |
| bypassing. Of course, these Web tools are neither | | | | issued, when it was issued, and whether any |
| foolproof nor exhaustive. No Web site can | | | | death claims exist against the number. It will not |
| substitute for using a reputable expert-search | | | | tell you the identity of the holder of the number. |
| service. | | | | PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALS |
| BLOGS: WORDS CAN HAUNT YOU | | | | To check a medical doctor's license, DocFinder |
| The old adage, "What you say may come back | | | | provides a database of license information for |
| to haunt you," has never been more true. With | | | | participating states. For states not included in the |
| millions of people posting to blogs and participating | | | | DocFinder database, the site provides links to their |
| in Internet discussion groups, we are creating | | | | own license look-up sites. |
| permanent records of our words and thoughts - | | | | Most states now have sites for verifying a |
| like it or not. | | | | lawyer's bar admission. You can find these through |
| In light of this, the blogosphere should be among | | | | the state government Web site. A new site, |
| your first stops in researching an expert's | | | | Avvo rates lawyers based on publicly available |
| background. Does the expert maintain a blog? If | | | | information and compiles client reviews and |
| so, has he said anything there you might regret. | | | | disciplinary sanctions. |
| Has he posted comments to others' blogs. Have | | | | DOCKETS |
| others written about him, positively or negatively, | | | | Is your expert a party to pending litigation? To |
| on their own blogs? | | | | find out in federal court, check the U.S. Party |
| The best tool for searching blogs is Google Blog | | | | Case Index. This is a national index of parties and |
| Search. Like Google's Web search, it is | | | | cases for U.S. district, bankruptcy and appellate |
| comprehensive and up to date. You can sort | | | | courts. It is updated nightly. Use of it requires a |
| results by date or relevance, and you can search | | | | PACER account. Not all federal courts participate, |
| blogs in multiple languages. | | | | but the site includes a list of those that do not. |
| A close second for searching blogs is Clusty. | | | | A service with much the same information that |
| Clusty is not a search engine - it does not crawl | | | | requires no account is Justia's Federal District |
| or index the Web. Rather, it is a metasearch tool | | | | Court Filings & Dockets. This free, searchable |
| that calls on other blog search engines, extracts | | | | resource contains information on recently filed U.S. |
| the relevant information, and then organizes the | | | | district court civil cases. The database includes |
| results into a hierarchical folder structure - which it | | | | cases filed since Jan. 1, 2006 and can be searched |
| calls "clusters." With this unique approach, it | | | | by party name, court, and type of case. |
| provides results that are both comprehensive and | | | | Another low-cost option for searching federal |
| usefully organized. | | | | court dockets is Who's Suing Whom. A private |
| Another source of potentially damaging | | | | translation and interpretation services firm offers |
| comments by or about an expert is the Internet's | | | | this tool for searching patent, trademark or |
| many news groups and discussion lists. To find | | | | copyright cases pending in federal courts. Search |
| postings someone made to one of these, search | | | | by case type and party name, court, state or |
| Google Groups. It hosts a variety of current | | | | date to find basic case information. There is a |
| groups as well as an archive of more than 750 | | | | charge to retrieve full-text court dockets. |
| million Usenet postings dating back to 1985. | | | | VITAL RECORDS |
| As podcasts become more popular, they also | | | | Vital records - birth, death and marriage |
| should be included in a background search. Perhaps | | | | certificates and divorce decrees - are increasingly |
| the person you are researching said something | | | | available free online through state and local |
| pertinent in a podcast or was the subject of | | | | government sources. Vital Records Information at |
| someone else's podcast comment. Several sites | | | | tells where to find them anywhere in the U.S. It |
| claim to search podcasts, but most of these | | | | lists sources for each state, territory and county, |
| actually search only the accompanying text - the | | | | and most cities and towns, along with contact, |
| title, description, author and any metadata - but | | | | fee and ordering information. For records outside |
| not the audio file. | | | | the U.S., the site lists links to foreign vital records |
| A handful of tools now enable you to search the | | | | sites. This straightforward site is designed with a |
| full spoken text of podcasts. One of the best is | | | | nod towards genealogy, but it is one many |
| Podzinger. It is based on speech-recognition | | | | lawyers are sure to find useful. |
| technology developed for U.S. intelligence to | | | | EXPERT WITNESS RULINGS |
| monitor foreign television and radio broadcasts. It | | | | The Daubert Tracker is a Web site developed |
| uses this technology to create a textual index of | | | | specifically to help lawyers track cases involving |
| the audio data in any MP3 or WAV file, converting | | | | the admissibility of expert testimony and, in |
| the spoken words into searchable text. | | | | particular, find out how specific experts fared in |
| NETWORKING SITES | | | | the courts. Its central feature is a database of all |
| Where professionals once networked at cocktail | | | | reported cases under Daubert and its progeny, |
| parties and civic events, today you are more | | | | trial and appellate, backed up when available by |
| likely to find them connecting through any of a | | | | full-text briefs, transcripts and docket entries. Part |
| number of networking Web sites. The most | | | | of what makes the site unique is that it links |
| popular at the moment is LinkedIn where | | | | cases to experts. Even if the expert is not |
| members post information about their careers | | | | named in the court decision, the site's editors |
| and their connections and share mutual | | | | track down the expert's identity. |
| recommendations. If your expert is listed on | | | | A year subscription is $295 or you can purchase |
| LinkedIn, read his profile carefully. How does his | | | | a two-hour session for $25 or a half-hour for $10. |
| listing compare with what he has provided to | | | | For free, you can search the site's collection of |
| you? Also, look for references from others and | | | | more than 10,000 briefs and other supporting |
| examine his network of connections for any that | | | | documents from both appellate and trial courts |
| might help either verify or call into question his | | | | relating to expert witness testimony. If you find a |
| background. | | | | document you are interested in, you can also |
| Other business networking sites include Ziggs, | | | | view the first 10 percent of it free. If you decide |
| Ryze, and Orkut. Of course, be sure also to | | | | you want to purchase the complete document, |
| check personal networking sites such as MySpace | | | | the cost is $15 for non-subscribers and $7.50 for |
| and Facebook. | | | | subscribers. |
| CORPORATE RECORDS | | | | WRITINGS |
| Anyone researching a publicly traded company | | | | In vetting an expert, it is important to confirm |
| would know to check the U.S. Securities and | | | | authorship of listed works as well as to search for |
| Exchange Commission's EDGAR database. But | | | | any unlisted works that could be relevant or |
| fewer think to search EDGAR for information | | | | embarrassing. Two essential resources to check |
| about individuals, even though it may contain a | | | | for published works are the Library of Congress |
| wealth of information. Corporate filings can | | | | Online Catalog at and the records of the U.S. |
| provide information on an individual's business | | | | Copyright Office. Of course, it also makes sense |
| affiliations, employment arrangements, | | | | to check |
| investments, and more. Even an individual's | | | | An increasingly popular resource for scholarly |
| education and employment history can sometimes | | | | publications is the Social Science Research |
| be tracked through EDGAR. | | | | Network. This international collaborative is home to |
| If the expert works in the securities industry, two | | | | scholarly research covering more than 400 |
| databases worth checking are NASD | | | | subject areas. It contains abstracts of more than |
| BrokerCheck which provides information on the | | | | 150,000 working papers and the full text of well |
| professional backgrounds of current and former | | | | over 100,000 published papers. This makes SSRN |
| NASD-registered securities firms and brokers, and | | | | an essential source for researching an expert's |
| the National Futures Association's Background | | | | published papers. |
| Affiliation Status Information Center (BASIC) | | | | Another useful source is ISI This site provides |
| which does much the same for registered futures | | | | profiles and bibliographic information for the most |
| dealers. | | | | highly cited researchers in 21 broad subject |
| HISTORICAL WEB | | | | categories. For listed individuals, the site provides |
| Web sites change over time. If your expert has a | | | | biographical information - including education, |
| Web site, what it says today may differ from | | | | faculty and professional posts, memberships and |
| what it said five years ago. The best way to | | | | offices, current research interests and personal |
| track historical changes in someone's Web site is | | | | Web sites - as well as a full listing of publications, |
| through the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine | | | | including journal articles, books, and conference |
| at archive.org. Here, you can find an archive that | | | | proceedings. |
| captures historical snapshots of sites. While not | | | | OTHER RESOURCES |
| exhaustive, it is likely to have at least some | | | | The U.S. government maintains any number of |
| pages showing earlier versions of a site. | | | | databases that could be relevant to vetting an |
| PUBLIC RECORDS | | | | expert, depending on his field of expertise. One |
| Any number of major research systems sell | | | | often worth checking is the Excluded Parties List |
| access to public records. These include LexisNexis, | | | | System. It provides information on individuals and |
| Westlaw, ChoicePoint, and Accurint. But many | | | | companies that are excluded from receiving |
| public records are now available online for little or | | | | federal contracts and federal financial assistance. |
| no cost. A variety of Web sites help direct you to | | | | When it comes to checking someone's |
| these online sources of public records. | | | | background, more is better. The more sources |
| One of the best is Search Systems with links to | | | | you use, the more complete your search. The |
| nearly 40,000 sources of public records on the | | | | free and low-cost resources described here |
| Web. It includes links to sources throughout the | | | | provide useful supplements to more expensive |
| world, although the greatest number of sources | | | | research services. |