Category: Articles, Education, Resources for Attorneys, Resources for Experts, Working With Experts Law Ethnography TASA ID: 921 PrefaceAs a practicing legal anthropologist for 40 years, I have always been curious about how lawyers think. Are they really so different from the rest of us? I enrolled in law school believing that becoming a 1L, a first year law student, would be the best way to learn about law and its practitioners. I also suspected that it would be really cool to get a law degree. The following work will disabuse both you and me of that idea. Read more
Category: Articles, Linguistics, Resources for Attorneys, Resources for Experts Notes From An Expert Witness Problems in Pocatello, Fiery Funerals and Infighting in Frisco: Anthropology Goes to Court TASA ID: 921 Anthropologists enter the field for many reasons. There are, for some, the promises of adventure, the mystique of the foreign and the lure of unlimited cultural possibilities. There are, for others, the desire to study and eventually try to help the poor, the dispossessed and the oppressed of the world. There are, for others still, the need to take on an academic discipline that offers intellectually challenging ideas and a way of frequently putting together oppositional views. Read more
Category: Articles, Law Enforcement & Corrections, Personal Injury, Resources for Attorneys, Resources for Experts, Safety Use of Force and Law Enforcement TASA ID: 4252 Law enforcement personnel are often faced with difficult decisions, perhaps, none more difficult than using force. The primary objective for law enforcement when engaged in a use-of-force incident is to restrain and control while utilizing an “objectively reasonable” amount of force. The often asked, debated, and second-guessed law enforcement question is how much force is necessary, required, or acceptable? The following terms require discussion:Excessive use of force: This term can be described as using more force than a reasonable person would deem reasonable and necessary.Unnecessary or unreasonable amount of force: This term refers to law enforcement personnel who utilize force where a reasonably prudent and well trained police officer would not. If law enforcement personnel are accused of utilizing too much force, accountability for the incident(s) will include, but not be limited to, possible discipline for violating department policy and standards, agency rules and regulations violations, internal investigation complaints, possible criminal charges, and civil lawsuits. Read more
Category: Articles, Personal Injury, Psychology/Psychiatry, Resources for Attorneys, Resources for Experts How to Use Neuropsychological Measurements to Enhance Your Presentation TASA ID: 8341 One of the most overlooked aspects of litigation is the power of measurements---numbers, math, statistics and “proof” of pain and agony in cases involving personal injury. Some of the brain injured claimants may provide 20 subjective complaints and most contain memory difficulties, especially recent or immediate memory difficulties. Remembering three items on a shopping list or pain intrusion can be part of the current complaints. Read more
Category: Articles, Intellectual Property, Resources for Attorneys, Resources for Experts The Best Way to Rebut a Rebuttal TASA ID: 2016 Have you noticed that most rebuttal reports start with the phrase, “This research is fatally flawed?” Whether that is true or not, experts tend to use that phrase quite liberally without paying too much attention to the supporting evidence. Read more
