Rhode Island Expert Witness Testimony Services

A KWVRS testimony engagement in Rhode Island runs from a written report to the expert's sworn answers on it. The Superior Court's expert discovery rule does not require written reports and protects the drafts of one that is disclosed; KWVRS writes one for every testimony engagement, stating the method, the sources and every opinion, so that once counsel discloses it, deposition and trial questions go to a written record. That rule lets a party learn through interrogatories whom the other side expects to call as an expert at trial, on what subject, with what facts and opinions and on what grounds, and then depose that expert once the interrogatory is answered; absent agreement on timing, a party may apply for a scheduling order.

Depositions are noticed by the parties, and unless the court orders otherwise the rules have the deposing party pay the expert a reasonable fee for the time spent attending and the reasonable expenses of attending. Under the same rules, a videotaped deposition of an expert who is not a party, recorded by written stipulation or court order, may be used at trial for any purpose whether or not the witness is available. Either side may move to put the case on the trial calendar, the Superior Court's civil case process page says. By its booklet, the Superior Court is the forum for a trial by jury and a stenographic record of proceedings, and a KWVRS expert retained in a personal injury, malpractice, wrongful death or employment action pending there testifies if the case is tried.

The Rhode Island Workers' Compensation Court's overview page describes where witnesses come in: after the pretrial conference and any pretrial order, a party's claim for trial leads to an initial hearing, where the court may decide which witnesses will appear and for how long, and then to a full evidentiary hearing on every issue the petitions raise. The page calls that trial a matter of record at which the court follows the Rhode Island Rules of Evidence, and a decree containing findings of fact is entered after it. An appeal goes first to that court's Appellate Division, which reviews the record of the trial; the overview says great deference is given to the findings of fact made at the trial level, and that contested factual issues are reviewed only when the Appellate Division first decides the trial judge's findings were clearly erroneous. Its panel may sustain, reverse or modify the decree, the Appellate Division's page adds, and the Rhode Island Supreme Court reviews its decisions only by writ of certiorari. KWVRS prepares testimony there as the record any review will read.

For a Family Court divorce or support case, the expert's subject is the earning capacity of a spouse or parent. Under the court's rules of domestic relations procedure, a party may require the other side to disclose each proposed expert's name and address, solely so the expert's qualifications can be investigated before trial, and the expert may be deposed only on a court order made on motion after hearing, where going without it would cause an injustice or undue hardship. Federal cases go to the District of Rhode Island, which lists one court location, in Providence. Where a forum allows testimony by video and counsel arrange it, a KWVRS expert can testify remotely, with the report and exhibits unchanged; the Rhode Island Workers' Compensation Court's public access page says that currently there will not be any remote hearings.

The practice page lists who testifies for each discipline, and each KWVRS report is defended by its author: employability and earning capacity by the vocational expert, future care by the certified life care planner, present value by the economist. Plaintiff and defense sides retain KWVRS on identical terms: one report, one preparation and one set of named sources, whichever side noticed the deposition or called the witness. KWVRS prepares with retaining counsel after a deposition notice issues or a trial date is set, while counsel and the court fix the dates. KWVRS works with attorneys nationwide from its New Jersey, Virginia and Rhode Island offices. Attorneys confirm the governing rule for their case.