Ten Ways That Attorneys Kill Their Own Experts

Expert testimony is often a key component of evidence at trial.  An expert, if used effectively, can be persuasive in a manner that enables the trier of fact to reach the correct conclusions. Most seasoned trial attorneys have had at least one experience in which an expert “crashed and burned” at trial. Sometimes it is the expert's lack of skill, experience or preparation that gives rise to the disaster. Other times, however, the expert's ineffectiveness is a direct result of factors and dynamics controllable by counsel. In this session we will identify common events that neutralize otherwise professionally competent experts and explore how to prevent them.

Peter M. Walzer (Moderator) is the founding partner of the Southern California law firm Walzer & Melcher LLP, focused exclusively in family law. He is a past president of the Southern California Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial lawyers and is a former chair of the executive committee of the State Bar Family Law Section.  Mr. Walzer has been a certified family law specialist for 20 years and is a former president of the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists.  He is on the Legal Education Committee and the Publications Board of the American Bar Association Family Law Section.  He is on the executive committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Family Law Section.  He is a member of the Elkins Family Law Task Force, a statewide panel whose charge is to propose measures to improve efficiency and fairness in family law proceedings and ensure justice for family law litigants.  Peter was named person of the year in 2009 by the Southern California Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and was nominated to their Board of Governors for the 2010-2012 term.

Michael Kaplan has over thirty years of experience in the areas of forensic accounting, business valuation, and litigation consulting. He has rendered services in numerous litigation matters. He is called upon regularly to testify as an expert witness in both federal and state courts, and has served as a court appointed expert and accounting referee.  Mr. Kaplan is principal of Kaplan Abraham Burkert Associates, Forensic Valuation Consultants and senior advisor to Freeman & Mills, Inc. He has served on the faculty of the Marshall School of Business and Leventhal School of Accounting at the University of Southern California. He is a frequent lecturer at professional conferences and has presented to various Bar Association groups, CPA groups, appraiser groups, and international associations of accounting firms.  Mr. Kaplan has developed and presented continuing education programs in financial and management accounting, economic damages, forensic accounting, business valuation, and the financial expert’s role in litigation.  Mr. Kaplan has served on the Forensic and Litigation Services Committee of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).Mr. Kaplan is a principal member of the training development team of the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts (NACVA) and president of NACVA’s Financial Forensics Institute.  

Carlton R. Marcyan, JD, CPA, CFP, CDFA, is a senior partner and Executive Committee Chair of the firm of Schiller DuCanto & Fleck LLP, the largest matrimonial law firm in the Nation. He has over twenty years of experience in representing upper level executives, entrepreneurs, and elected officials and their spouses in complex, domestic relations matters. He is an extensive lecturer throughout the country on matters concerning taxation, valuation, equitable distribution, maintenance, and divorce law. Prior to joining his firm he worked as a professional with an international accounting firm now known as Pricewaterhouse Coopers and was a researcher for the IRS. Selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers In America by Naifeh and Smith as a top litigator and collaborative method specialist in matrimonial matters, in Illinois Super Lawyers by Chicago Magazine and as a Leading Lawyer by Leading Lawyers Network. He received the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation Distinguished Service Award 2000; Distinguished Service Award 2003, by the John Marshall Law School Alumni Association; and the Michael Cohen Award in 2008 for his contribution to the professional education of matrimonial attorneys in Illinois.

$85 Section of Family Law Members
$125 ABA Members
$150 General Public
$85 Government Discount
$75 Young Lawyers Division
$60 Each additional registrant using the same phone line

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