I testified today in a court proceeding. The lawyer who cross-examined me was tough and unsparing, but that's his job. My job as an expert witness is to share my expertise. There are other witnesses and ultimately, in this case, the judge made a decision. Everyone was doing their job. The decision wasn't dependent fully on my testimony and I ultimately had no responsibility for the decision. My responsibility was in being honest and transparent and sharing my expertise. That's what an expert witness is supposed to do. While the other attorney had a responsibility to question my role as an expert (which was very hard to do in this case), he tried. Of course it didn't work. Without going into details, it was his job to try to poke holes in what I was testifying to.
Imagine my surprise when, about two hours after I had testified, I got a phone call from the opposing attorney telling me that he didn't want me to take his cross-examination personally and that he had been impressed with my testimony! It turns out that the judge ruled in his favor, but he still didn't have to reach out and commend me. He was also very complementary as to my honesty and sincerity, traits that I pride myself on and which I'm glad come through in my testimony. I'm sure that I made it more difficult for the judge to make her decision, but that discussion is for another blog on another day.
Today, I remind myself, that while I'm doing expert witness work, my role is purely educational. I can not take my responsibility too seriously, and I certainly can't be bothered by the cross-examination. Lawyers are just doing their job.
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