How to Refine, Improve and Grow Your Expert Witness Practice

Executive Summary

Learn how to have a more successful expert witness practice. We provide a holistic look at practice development including marketing, sales, fee setting, collections, practice management, branding, and positioning. The focus is on simple and easily implementable techniques and strategies. Each attendee will create a written action plan and receive personalized feedback from SEAK.

What's Included:

• Over 15 hours of on-demand streaming instruction (1 year license);
• SEAK's 125 page handbook, provided as both a digital download and upon request (USA only) a bound printed copy;
• Personalized feedback from SEAK on numerous items including your elevator speech, niche, CV, fee schedule, positioning strategies, SEAK listing, case conversion strategies, target market, and marketing plan.
• The ability to submit a list of up to three questions to SEAK's Faculty;
• Private 1-1 15 minute Zoom call with SEAK to answer your submitted questions and follow-up questions and provide you individualized feedback;
• A special, limited time 50% discount on one standard listing in SEAK's Expert Witness Directory listing (New or Renewal); and
• 30 Day money back guarantee.

You will learn how to:

• Make yourself more attractive to potential clients,

• Get new clients to come to you,

• Optimize your fee structure and minimize collection difficulties,

• Convert more case leads into paying clients,

• Position yourself in a well-placed niche,

• Data mine your old cases and case inquiries,

• Maximize repeat and word of mouth business,

• Cost effectively market your expert witness practice,

• Reduce non-billable time,

• Leverage yourself, and

• Make your expert witness practice more successful. 

Overview of Topics:

What Potential Clients are Looking For in Expert Witnesses

The faculty will detail what attorneys are looking for in expert witnesses. 

How to Recognize and Showcase What Makes You Most Attractive To Potential Clients

A first step in developing a business development strategy is creating and refining your “elevator speech,” —i.e. a concise summary of what potential clients would like about you. Building upon the previous segment, the faculty will explain a protocol for developing your ideal elevator speech and provide examples of effective elevator speeches. 

Finding Your Niche and Utilizing it to Increase Your Income

The potentially enormous benefits of finding a good niche will be explained and attendees will be provided with numerous successful examples as well as a protocol to identify/develop their ideal niche. 

Positioning Yourself in the Best Possible Light

The faculty will explain how to make yourself as attractive as possible to potential clients, including: how to project a positive and professional image (and the biggest mistakes experts make in this area), how case selection influences your image, which cases/law firms to seek out and which cases/law firms to avoid, how to demonstrate effective communication skills, how and when to fill in gaps and build your CV, why you should keep a low profile, and how to gain hands-on and relevant testifying experience. 

How to Develop and Implement an Income Maximizing Fee Structure

Faculty will provide suggestions and a “litmus” test attendees can use when reconsidering their fee and retainer structure. Emphasized will be techniques to make sure that you are not undercharging. 

How to Minimize Collection Difficulties and Write Offs

Simply put, every billed dollar that is not ultimately collected comes right off your bottom line. In this segment the faculty will provide practical advice for minimizing both collection losses and write-offs. 

How to Convert a Higher Percentage of Inquiries into Paid Assignments

Faculty will share with attendees: how to prepare for calls, what counsel are looking for, key “talking points” and numerous strategies and techniques for excelling during the call and its aftermath and converting an appropriate inquiry into an expert witness assignment. 

How Much Are Your New Clients Worth?

Attendees will learn how to consider the true worth of a new client. Such an understanding is critical in order to accurately assess the cost-effectiveness of the business development techniques discussed later in the course. 

Fundamentals of Expert Witness Business Development

Faculty will discuss and explain the art and science of business development for expert witness practices. Emphasis will be placed on cost-effective techniques that attendees can immediately use and which are appropriate for expert witnesses who are subject to cross-examination about their business development practices. 

How to Track Your New Client Development

Faculty will explain techniques for tracking inquiries and cases. A model tracking form will be provided. 

How to Data Mine Your Old Cases

Successful practice development requires a periodic analysis of your past cases and inquiries. The faculty will provide a protocol and form to conduct this analysis and will demonstrate through examples the highly valuable and actionable data that may well be within your easy reach. 

How to Identify and Reach the Attorneys Most Likely to Hire You

Faculty will discuss and demonstrate how you or your staff can locate the particular attorneys most likely to hire you for new expert witness assignments. 

How to Maximize Repeat and Word of Mouth Business

By far the most valuable and cost effective business development technique for expert witnesses is generating positive word of mouth. The faculty will provide dozens of suggestions and strategies for increasing repeat business with resulting increased income. 

How to Develop a Comprehensive and Effective Internet Strategy

An effective internet strategy goes far beyond just putting up a web page. The authors will provide advice for developing a comprehensive and effective internet strategy involving URL selection, web site design, blogging, social media, search engine optimization, pay per click, inbound marketing, and calls to action. 

How and Where to Advertise: Evidence Based Best Practices

Research and evidence suggests that advertising and listing in expert directories can be remarkably cost effective and that, for most experts, there is little if any backlash from tasteful, factual ads. The faculty will specifically explain what should and should not be in expert witness advertisements, how to maximize the effectiveness of your ads, and how and where to test advertising. 

Advanced Networking Techniques for Expert Witnesses

The faculty will explain and provide examples of six specific techniques for staying in front of clients and how to implement each. The faculty will further describe methods for networking with one’s colleagues and how this can lead to case referrals. Also discussed will be which professional organizations to join, how to leverage your personal relationships, why you should serve as a mentor, which conferences you should attend, and how to use online networking through LinkedIn to boost your expert witness practice. 

How to use Public Speaking and Writing to Increase Your Revenue

Speaking and writing can be very good for your bottom line. The faculty will explain and demonstrate the subtle nuances that need to be navigated to get the most out of your speaking engagement. The faculty will explain where to talk, how to get invited, when the best time to talk is, and how to get invited back and will offer advice on risk management so that the expert’s presentation does not come back to haunt the expert. In regards to writing, the faculty will explain how to choose the correct topic to write on, the various types of writing that experts can do (white papers, articles, peer review articles, blogs, books, etc.), how to calculate the cost of writing, risk management considerations influencing your title, content, and where to publish—all with the aim of generating case leads. 

Direct Outreach

The faculty will explain how to draft an effective communications piece and who to target this piece to. Also included will be tips and advice on how to make your outreach cost-effective. 

Reducing Non-Billable Time

The less time you spend on non-billable time the more time you will have to bill, develop your practice, and increase your skills. The faculty will explain how to create significant amounts of extra time by leveraging yourself through technology and proper staffing. 

Leveraging Your Name and Reputation to Grow Your Practice: Bringing on Additional Experts

Many expert witnesses work in firms or group settings. Expanding your practice to a group can allow you to greatly increase your billings and revenue as well as build residual sale value in your firm. The faculty will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of expanding beyond a one person firm and will give practical advice for doing so successfully. 

Personalized Action Plans

Attendees will learn the importance of an action plan and be provided instruction on how to receive feedback from SEAK and set up their included Zoom Q&A session with SEAK.

Here's What Your Colleagues Have to Say

“Jim, Thanks for making the class extremely memorable. You did an excellent job teaching! I now have a large list of tasks I need to complete with my expert witness business.”

“One valuable piece was simply absorbing some of the "norms" of this wild west adventure of expert witness work, and hearing how many of the issues are viewed from the perspective of the attorneys and excellent instructors. Understanding better the expectations of attorneys who hire experts, talking clearly about the uncomfortable subject of fees and invoicing super helpful, and most everything that Jim and Kelly had to say was very valuable.”

“Jim, thanks for the excellent course last week, which is changing my actions today and I am sure will have long term impact for the future.”

“I very much appreciate the approach, the professionalism, the frankness, and the organization. [Jim and Kelly] provided me with much needed direction.”

“It was great to drill down on the details of how to improve our business.”

“Very informative, and gave practical advice to further my expert witness endeavors.”

“This is the second SEAK course I have attended and the amount of valuable information and advice provided is almost overwhelming, but it is always top shelf and excellent!”

“The SEAK team is fully engaged on a professional and personal level, complimenting their presentation with some appropriate humor and positive group and personal reinforcement. This SEAK presentation team fully complement each other with different, but very compatible, presentation styles and personalities . . . positive and upbeat with body language, eye contact, and smiles . . . even the professionals need the compliments and reinforcement from others from time to time.”

“Kelly and Jim are both excellent. I think they compliment each other well. Jim with his amusing acerbic manner and Kelly as more of the good cop, but obviously Jim is rubbing off on her.”

“Well done with actual stories of the good/ bad.”

“A well prepared and presented course that truly addressed all the aspects of creating healthy growth in an expert witnessing practice.”

“Thanks again so much for the course! Definitely gave me a number of great ideas to make my expert witness practice grow.”

“Very helpful info, validated I’m doing a number of things well, but also showed me areas/opportunities for improvement.”

“Thank YOU, Jim, for an excellent course yet again. I am working on my 4 pages of to-dos and making progress. I am grateful for your guidance, instruction, and support in this exciting endeavor.”

“Jim, you are definitely a great pioneer in this area. I love that you give a lot of great information, but you make it an interactive and personal experience. Where we all learn from one another.”

“The course was spectacular, and I am fired up to develop my expert-witness work for the coming decade. The content was exactly the sort of informed and doable advice I was looking for.”

“Jim and Kelly, Thanks again as always for a great seminar. I have spent the better part of the week working on the 42 items on my to-do list to get my business into shape.”

“Treasure trove of real world, practical information.”

“Jim, It was truly a life altering experience! Thank you.” 

“Most useful to me was the notion of developing an “elevator speech”. It called for an introspective focus on what the marketable skills of the expert witness is.”

“I am writing to thank you for an excellent conference last week. Jim, you’ve honed a very inclusive teaching style, where you’re somehow able to keep track of each person’s expertise/experience/personality, and draw-in individuals throughout the discussion. That’s hard to do, and you nail it.” 

“Thanks for an excellent course.” 

“Excellent value.”

“Very informative, helpful, friendly and to the point.”

“Great job!”

“Very engaging, knowledgeable and funny. Thanks!”