Lawyers have a high ethical responsibility to clients and courts, and can be held liable for legal malpractice. Expert witnesses with legal education and experience are often required to testify in malpractice cases. Experience with disciplinary agencies or teaching ethics can also qualify a witness.
Lawyers in most jurisdictions maintain a high standard of professional conduct because of the relationships they maintain with clients and the ethical responsibility they have to both clients and the courts. When a lawyer breaches this ethical duty, he or she can be held liable for legal malpractice. A victim of legal malpractice may file a claim against a lawyer for which a legal malpractice specialist may be required to testify. To become an expert witness to illegal practices, an individual generally must have the necessary educational background and possess an active license to practice law. In addition, anyone aspiring to become an expert witness to illegal practices must have experience working for the appropriate disciplinary agency or have experience teaching ethics to law students.
While ethical standards may vary slightly from one jurisdiction to another, lawyers are universally held to high standards when it comes to the ethical responsibility they have to their clients and the courts. When a client believes that an attorney has failed to fulfill his ethical responsibilities, he may decide to bring a legal malpractice suit against the attorney. For the client to prevail, he or she will have to convince a judge or jury that the attorney committed legal malpractice. Often, an expert on illegal practices is called upon to testify about what constitutes illegal practices and to give an opinion as to whether or not the attorney in question has committed illegal practices.
While the requirements for a person to become a tort practice expert legal witness may vary somewhat by jurisdiction as well as by the courts of a jurisdiction, most will require that the potential witness has completed law school and is currently licensed to practice law. In addition, most courts expect the potential witness to have a significant amount of experience in the practice of law. A judge, for example, may be considered an expert based solely on his or her professional experience.
In most cases, a person aspiring to become an expert witness to malpractice is expected to have additional experience beyond the simple practice of law. Every state in the United States has a disciplinary agency or board made up of attorneys who investigate complaints about other attorneys. Experience working for one of these agencies or boards would likely be what a court would look for when deciding whether a witness is qualified to testify as an expert. Another option for anyone planning to become an expert witness to illegal practices may be to gain experience teaching legal ethics in a school setting. Ultimately, the court will determine whether or not a potential witness can testify as an expert witness.
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