During a very informative—and entertaining—webinar on expert witnessing, Robert Vance (Forensic & Valuation Services PLC), gave this advice: Consider putting an expiration date on the cover letter to your proposed engagement letter. He has found that certain firms will try to “conflict you out,” meaning they don’t necessarily want to hire you, but they don’t want the other side to hire you. They somehow think that the engagement letter ties up the expert even though it doesn’t get signed. Therefore, Vance uses a 10-day expiration date. He notes that this is especially important if the opposing side is a firm you have worked for before, so the 10-day expiration can clear the way to be hired by the other firm.

Vance gave many other good pieces of advice during his webinar, So You Want to Testify as a Financial Expert Witness? Testimony Tips, Traps, and Video Demonstrations From the Trenches. Click here for a recording (free to holders of BVR’s Training Passport Pro).