Expert Witness
An expert witness has knowledge beyond that of the ordinary person, enabling him/her to give testimony regarding an issue that requires expertise to understand, while communicating this knowledge in an easy to understand format. Experts are allowed to give opinion testimony which a non-expert witness may be prohibited from providing. The party offering the expert must lay a foundation for the testimony. Both sides will attempt to discredit opposing experts.
In order to qualify an expert, a number of validating factors come to bear, including, the number of years they have practiced in their field, work experience related to the case, certifications, licensing, training, education, and peer recognition. They may be called as upon as consultants to a case and also used to give testimony at trial. Once listed as a witness for trial, the materials they rely upon in forming an opinion in the case is subject to discovery by the opposing parties. Expert testimony is subject to attack on cross-examination in the form of questioning designed to ferret out any limitations in the witness’s qualifications and experience, lack of witness’s confidence in his opinions, lack of the preparation, or unreliability of the expert’s sources, tests, and methods, among other issues.
The principals of Atlas Capital Advisors have over 30 years of experience representing lenders, servicers, banks, private equity firms, borrowers, buyers and sellers in transactions involving hundreds of millions of dollars of commercial, industrial, hotel, condo-tels, apartments, service stations, restaurants, mixed-use projects, whether in the sale, purchase, financing, refinancing, or loan workout transactions. This experience includes drafting and negotiating initial offers, purchase and sale agreements, leases, facilitating transactions, and managing every aspect of a real estate project and corresponding debt.